Sports Hub hosts thousands at first weekend open house

SINGAPORE - Thousands showed up the Sports Hub in Kallang on Saturday - the first weekend that the brand new $1.3 billion sporting arena opened its doors to the public.

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Open house at the Sports Hub

Singaporeans have waited a long time, and now facilities at the 35-hectare Sports Hub will finally be available to the public for free use.

The Sports Hub Pte Ltd (SHPL) will hold a community open house tomorrow and on Saturday, allowing access to its skate park, fitness corners, jogging and cycling paths, a bowling lawn and beach volleyball courts.

SHPL's chief operating officer, Oon Jin Teik, said that the Hub will work closely with various national sports associations (NSAs) to host a variety of games and sports in and around the new 55,000-seater National Stadium.

The Stadium hosted the unveiling of the 100PLUS Promenade yesterday, with the isotonic sports drink signing a $2 million cash deal with the Sports Hub.

100PLUS joins two other major sponsors that the SHPL has already secured - OCBC Bank and Great Eastern.

The Promenade is an 888-metre track which functions as the main walkway for the public to access different venues in the Sports Hub.

It is fully-sheltered and will be available to the public for running and cycling activities.

Dato Ng Jui Sia, chief executive officer of Fraser and Neave, also revealed that 100PLUS will also be the official isotonic drink of the Sports Hub, and will sponsor drinks at selected events held at the venue.

Said Oon: "When the Promenade is ready and functional, we may also liven up the area and, perhaps, bring up a sports art and heritage corner, so people can appreciate it here." Though the stadium hosted its first sporting event, the Rugby World Club 10s, last weekend, construction work is still ongoing at various areas of the Hub. Oon explained that a project of such magnitude will require work for another six to 12 months after the official opening.

"We can't just build and say it's ready to go. There are phases to go through before certain spaces are activated," he said.

"The stadium is operationally ready, but for the next six to 12 months, there will be people constantly fixing many different things."

aakasim@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 26, 2014.
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