SINGAPORE — The 34-year-old Singapore Indoor Stadium will be replaced by a new indoor arena as part of plans to transform the Kallang Alive precinct around the Singapore Sports Hub.

The 12,000-seater indoor stadium will continue to operate until the new arena is completed.

This will ensure minimal disruption to the pipeline of events and programmes during the period when the new indoor arena is being built, likely at a site adjacent to the current indoor stadium site.

Mr Edwin Tong, who is Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, announced this in Parliament on Thursday (March 7) while going through his ministry's budget plans.

He also announced a new S$165 million Major Sports Event Fund that will be set aside to attract more world-class sporting events here. 

In a statement to the media, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) said that the plans for the new indoor arena are now in the early stages and a more detailed update will be provided in due course.

The future plans of the existing indoor stadium are being studied as well. 

Mr Tong said that the new indoor arena should at least have the same capacity as the current indoor stadium, and will be “future-proofed” so that it can continue to serve Singapore’s interests in future. 

The Government has been studying the best arenas in the world to learn from them, he added. What it is considering is a new arena that can host more sophisticated and different types of events, has a faster turnaround time between events and has more varied hospitality suites and seating. 

Plans to revitalise the Kallang Alive precinct were given a boost after the Government announced its takeover of the Singapore Sports Hub.

The proposal for a new indoor arena was briefly mentioned in a June 2022 factsheet of the Kallang Alive precinct alongside the announcement of the takeover.

Back then, a multi-purpose indoor arena capable of hosting e-sports, sporting and entertainment events was mooted as part of the Kallang Theatre Integrated Development. 

There was no mention of this arena potentially replacing the current indoor stadium, which was still present in an artist’s impression of the projected precinct in 2030. 

MCCY said in its latest statement that since the Singapore Indoor Stadium was opened on Dec 31 in 1989, countries around the region have built or are building indoor arenas that can hold even more sophisticated events and offer greater “value propositions” for spectators such as more varied hospitality suites. 

"Our competitors are not standing still and we, likewise, must continually innovate and evolve if we want to continue to attract top-tier events," Mr Tong said. 

The new arena will be “among the best-in-class globally”, the ministry said. It will help the Kallang Alive precinct in hosting international events, hold community, grassroots and school sports events, and be a place for “sports innovation”, among other aims. 

The Singapore Indoor Stadium was built at a cost of S$90 million and was designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. 

It has hosted major events over the past 34 years, including tournaments during the Southeast Asian Games and concerts by international and regional acts, with the most recent being K-pop group Shinee. 

NEW FUND FOR MAJOR SPORTS EVENTS

Apart from revamping the infrastructure, the Government is going to set up a new S$165 million fund for major sports events,Mr Tong said.

The fund, called the Major Sports Event Fund, will be set aside for use over four years. There is presently no fund set aside to attract sport events to Singapore and any grant disbursed by the Government to do so is done on a case-by-case basis. 

Responding to a separate question in Parliament about grants, Mr Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Trade and Industry, said that examples of sports events that were supported by government grants in the past year include the Olympic Esports Week, Singapore HSBC Rugby Sevens and the HSBC Women's World Championship golf tournament. 

MCCY said that the new S$165 million fund will allow for more world-class sporting events to be hosted here, which will “further strengthen Singapore’s reputation as a choice destination for high-signature international sporting events”. 

More world-class sports events will also boost economic growth here and bring benefits to Singapore athletes, Mr Tong said. 

"For our Team Singapore athletes, hosting such events will mean more opportunities... to measure yourselves against the world’s best right here on our home ground," he said. 

"Singaporeans will get to watch more of the world’s best athletes in action, adding to an already vibrant sporting calendar."

MCCY added that to tap the fund, event owners may reach out to Sport Singapore (SportSG), a statutory board under MCCY, with event proposals.

“Based on discussions with the respective event owners and stakeholders, SportSG will assess the merits of bringing in specific sporting events to Singapore and the amount of funding support that SportSG will contribute to those events,” the ministry said.