‘Iconic’ Singapore Indoor Stadium should be preserved amid plans for new arena, say experts

'Iconic' Singapore Indoor Stadium should be preserved amid plans for new arena, say experts

The Singapore Open, which made its debut at the Indoor Stadium in 1990, is one of the sporting events that has taken place there for more than 30 years.

While the Indoor Stadium is still one of the” top few propositions” to the Badminton World Federation, &nbsp, Singapore Badminton Association ( SBA ) CEO Alan Ow noted a number of difficulties when organizing the Open.

This includes the lack of options for business friends, which can make it difficult to attract sponsors.

This has become a problem over the years, according to Mr. James Walton, head of Deloitte Asia-Pacific’s sports business class.

He cited the Singaporean Women’s Tennis Association ( WTA ) finals, which required the construction of temporary structures in the Indoor Stadium’s parking lot, as an illustration.

In the wake of the bid, Singapore was competing for the top-tier Association of Tennis Professionals ( ATP ) finals and the Indoor Stadium did not meet the requirements for hospitality spaces, according to Mr. Walton, who served as an advisor on various aspects of the bid.

He said,” The world has changed in live sports and entertainment to the point where it no longer revolves solely around what’s going on on the court or in front of you.”

” The practice is also about what happens before the music and after the concert, at the half-time of a sporting suit, and being treated like a VIP,” says the author.

Another problem is that Indoor Stadium’s design cannot accommodate the introduction of cutting-edge sports like Hawkeye, according to Mr. Ow.

This tracking system is used in line-call challenges in various activities, including basketball.

A portion of the seats must be closed down because there is more room available for the state’s cameras.

” The idea will be that you are sacrificing votes because it ( the market ) was not goal- built for all this technology”, said Mr Show.

The semi-finals and championships of the World Floorball Championships were another event that took place at the Indoor Stadium in 2023. &nbsp,

When it comes to hosting recreational activities, no place is “perfect”, and there are always areas of development, said Mr Adrian Tan, chairman of event planner Kin Productions.

He added that event planners have had to react quickly to give everyone a chance to have the best possible experience at the Indoor Stadium, and that he acknowledged that locations that have been around for a long time may not be as “well-equipped” to deal with demands.

THE” BEST OF BOTH WORLDS”?

According to Associate Professor Joseph Lim from the National University of Singapore’s division of infrastructure, the requirements for a place for hosting international events are now “more stringent.”

Building a new industry could allow for the installation of state-of-the-art audio-visual technology, which the old construction could n’t easily support, as well as ancillary spaces that could be used daily in between major events.