BUCHEON — The city of Bucheon in Gyeonggi Province said on the 1st that it has begun a full-scale push to host a combined sports and performance domed stadium.
The city formed a task force on Sept. 30 at its city hall and held its first meeting to respond to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's call for candidate sites for a combined sports and performance domed stadium.
The task force is charged with drawing up a working strategy to develop the area around the Bucheon Sports Complex into a regional complex combining culture, sports and performance functions.
The group is focused in particular on improving the city's chances of landing the stadium by linking the bid to the creation of an urban innovation space around the Bucheon Sports Complex, a core project of the ninth popularly elected city government.
Vice Mayor Nam Dong-kyung heads the task force, which brings together about 20 participants, including the city's director of urban affairs and director of culture and sports, officials from the Bucheon Research Institute and outside experts.
Officials from an asset management firm and an accounting firm have also joined. They will review large-scale investment, financing and business feasibility. Researchers and professors in sports and culture will examine the feasibility of the facilities, how they would be operated and the case to be made in the bid.
At a preliminary briefing on Sept. 21, the ministry disclosed plans to select one large-scale and one mid-sized domed stadium site through the open call.
The city plans to prepare a proposal that meets the evaluation criteria in time for the main call on Dec. 3.
Bucheon has been conducting a study on a long-term development strategy for the Bucheon Sports Complex special planning district since December last year. Through that work, it is reviewing mixed-use vertical development of the existing stadium site, spatial reorganization and the possibility of adding a domed stadium.
The city is highlighting transportation, location and cultural infrastructure as its strengths. The area around the Bucheon Sports Complex is seen as a hub where five rail lines intersect. Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport are also nearby, giving the area strong regional access.
The city is also stressing that the project could be tied to three international cultural festivals: the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, the Bucheon International Comics Festival and the Bucheon International Animation Festival.
Bucheon is also weighing plans to develop the stadium as a self-sufficient complex combining MICE facilities, retail and cultural venues.
"We will turn the area around the Bucheon Sports Complex into a culture and sports complex that both residents and visitors come to," Nam said. "We will join forces with Gyeonggi Province, local political circles and private-sector experts to do our utmost to win the bid."
