A Sports Stadium in Kaohsiung that Meets the Olympic Games / 符合奧運標準的綜合體育館
A Sports Stadium in Kaohsiung that Meets the Olympic Games Standards
Kaohsiung Arena IS born
◎Text by Hsin-yi Peng
◎Photos by Chung-Hui Pao
After four years of construction, Kaohsiung's modernized, top-notch sports stadium was completed and is ready for the world. Kaohsiung Arena officially opened for operation on September 27th and immediately followed with a test run on the same day. Mayor Chu Chen was the guest of honor to announce the birth of the "Kaohsiung Arena" to the residents of the city. The mayor expressed her appreciation to everyone involved in the creation of the stadium and personally offered her warm invitation to the ambassadors and representatives from foreign countries who were invited as guests to witness the ceremony. She also welcomed their national teams to come to The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung. One of the pre-events in October 2008 was held in the new gymnasium that was built to meet Olympic Games standards. The sports include Rhythmic Gymnastic, Trampoline, Acrobatics, Tumbling and Aerobics.
In her speech, Mayor Chu Chen said it was based on the spirit of "one generation plants trees; the next enjoys the shade" that people in Kaohsiung overcame all the challenges to build the arena and finally presented it to the world as a perfect creation. The construction of Kaohsiung Arena was a "Dream Come True" project; on behalf of the citizens of Kaohsiung, she would like to thank every one who participated in the project from the bottom of her heart.
Mayor Chen pointed out that the building cost of Kaohsiung Arena, as the location for Gymnasium and Sports Dance in The 2009 World Games, was 7.9 billion NTD. Within this total, a 750 million NTD subsidy came from Central Government, Kaohsiung City Government invested another 750 million; the rest was entirely contributed by investors from the private sector. Mayor Chen was elated to see that the arena is now ready for operation. It was a perfect example of a win-win situation that came from the cooperation between government and the private sector, a joint effort that brings prosperity and hope for the future.
Kaohsiung Arena is located in the south-east region of Zuoying District, covering approximately 3.5 acres of land. Kaohsiung Arena is not only capable of hosting large scale sports games, but is also an ideal location for art performances. With the Kaohsiung MRT and the fast growing commercial district nearby to bring in the crowd, Kaohsiung Arena helped to stimulate economic growth and popular interest in northern Kaohsiung and it has already become the new landmark in southern Taiwan.
The architectural signature character of Kaohsiung Arena is the use of prestress cables on the roof, which stretch out with a span as far as 147 meters. The structure of the roof is supported by a total number of 22 two-way prestress cables, each capable of withstanding 80 tons of weight. The stadium has a capacity of 15,000 seats, among which, 5000 are mobile so the total number of seats and the seating layout can be adjusted and rearranged to fit the need of the event.
Kaohsiung Arena is environmentally-friendly; it is an energy-saving green building that utilizes renewable energy. The large roof over the arena is designed to collect rain water for re-use; the outer wall is made of solar plates to generate renewable energy. Most of the outdoor spaces are covered with greenery, which offers the residents in Kaohsiung a place to go for sports, entertainment, art performances, shopping, and a lot of fun.
符合奧運標準的綜合體育館
高雄巨蛋誕生
◎文／江戶川明
◎攝影／鮑忠暉
歷經４年興建，高雄市現代化綜合體育館完工落成，並在９月27日舉行啟用暨試營運典禮！市長陳菊除向所有市民宣告「高雄小巨蛋」誕生，並感謝幕前幕後的所有工作夥伴外，也當面盛情邀請與會擔任貴賓的駐台各使節及代表，在明年的世界運動會舉辦時，組隊前來高雄參加這場難得的運動盛會。今年10月2009高雄世運暖身賽的韻律體操、彈翻床、有氧體操就在這個符合奧運標準的綜合體育館盛大展開。
高雄市長陳菊致詞時強調，「前人種樹、後人乘涼」，高雄小巨蛋克服種種困難挑戰，終於完美地呈現在市民眼前，她代表全體市民向執行圓夢工程幕前幕後，所有的工作夥伴，致上最深的感謝。
陳市長指出，高雄巨蛋是2009世界運動會體操與運動舞蹈項目的比賽場地，總經費79億元，中央挹注７億5000萬元，高雄市政府出資７億5000萬元，其餘皆由民間投資。陳市長欣見落成啟用進入試營運階段，可以說是政府與民間合作、創造雙贏的成功案例，也帶來繁榮與希望。
巨蛋綜合體育館，面積約5.73公頃，位於左營區東南側。高雄巨蛋除可提供各種大型運動賽事、藝文表演運用，加上鄰近捷運的便利快捷及周邊商圈發展，已開始帶動北高雄的經濟發展與人潮聚集，成為南台灣的新地標。
在建築設計上，高雄巨蛋最大特點是在屋頂採輕巧的預力高拉力鋼索，其跨距長達147公尺，整個屋頂結構關鍵在於22條雙向正交之預力鋼索，每條鋼索之拉力可達80公噸，場內可容納１萬5000個活動座席(包含10000個固定座椅及5000個活動座椅)，並可依活動需要改變座席數量和排列方式。
為反映環保節能的綠建築及再生能源應用，高雄巨蛋上方的大片屋頂可達成雨水回收目的，且外牆採用太陽能源板製造再生能源，再加上外部開放空間的綠化植栽，是提供市民一處結合運動休閒、藝文展演、遊憩購物的絕佳空間。