Seoul to build domed baseball stadium by 2011

SEOUL, April 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's first domed baseball stadium will be
built in Seoul by 2011 as public interest in the indoor ballpark mounted after
the nation's impressive performance at the World Baseball Classic (WBC), Seoul's
metropolitan government said Wednesday.
"The Seoul government will build a full-roofed stadium with some 30,000 seats, in
response to the local baseball community's long-cherished dream," Kwon Hyuk-so, a
top Seoul official in charge of culture and sports affairs, told reporters at a
press conference.
"The Korea Baseball Organization has requested that we build the indoor stadium
instead of a half-domed park."
Construction of the roofed stadium in Gocheok-dong, southwestern Seoul, will be
completed in September 2011 at a cost of some 80 billion won (US$60 million), he
explained.
Seoul initially planned to build an outdoor ballpark in Gocheok-dong to replace
the earlier Dongdaemun Stadium recently dismantled as part of a downtown
redevelopment project. The city changed the design to a domed ballpark at the
request of the baseball governing body.
After South Korea's national baseball team reached the final of the WBC
tournament in March, baseball officials and fans have increasingly called for the
construction of a roofed ballpark where athletes can play regardless of weather
conditions.
The United States has eight domed ballparks and Japan, another baseball
powerhouse, has six while South Korea has none.
The idea had previously been floated several times by baseball clubs in the
Korean professional league but each time the proposal was scrapped due to the
enormous financial cost.
Kwon said that the new stadium could be profitable if used for other sporting and
non-sporting events, including concerts. He noted that a baseball museum, fitness
center and swimming pool will also be housed in the new stadium.
brk@yna.co.kr
(END)