National Stadium back in business

Source : Sunday Times - 8 Feb 2009

The National Stadium is now game to do extra business.

It was slated to be demolished to make way for the Sports Hub but plans have now run into problems.

Since it has been given a further lease of life, its management, the Singapore Sports Council (SSC), is now changing tack.

It is opening the stadium to all event organisers, and not just those whose events are deemed to be of national interest.

Back in November, the SSC’s sports facilities chief, Mr Kenneth Hui, had said that requests would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

A request, for example, to hold the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup semi-finals and finals was given the green light. The reason? Football matches had the potential of filling up the 60,000 capacity place, and the Lions are the pride of the nation.

Last Tuesday, it was announced in Parliament that the building of the $1.87 billion Sports Hub has been delayed due to funding woes. The Government is in ‘active discussions’ with the Singapore Sports Hub Consortium to address this.

Construction of the 35ha Kallang Sports Hub was originally scheduled to start in 2007.

Regarding those who are keen to use the stadium, Mr Hui said: ‘Event organisers will need to assess the condition of the stadium and ensure it meets their standards and requirements before hosting any events.’

Any improvements deemed necessary will have to be borne by the organisers.

The rental on weekends is $12,600 per day. It is $8,925 on a weekday.

Over the last few months, the SSC has received inquiries to hold events linked to sports, concerts and religion. The organisers are in negotiations with SSC but nothing has been confirmed.

But the SSC has no plans to lease the stadium premises to businesses. Singapore Pools, for example, was once a tenant.

For those who wonder if the stadium could host the National Day Parade (NDP) - which it has done on many occasions - a spokesman for the NDP 2009 executive committee said plans to stage the event at the Marina Bay Floating Platform were confirmed six months ago.

The last two NDPs were held there too.

But the spokesman did not rule out a possibility that the NDP might be held at the stadium again before it gets torn down.