CELEBRATING AT THEIR OFFICE at Keppel Road, staff of the Singapore Sports Hub Consortium pop champagne bottles and break into loud cheers. They beat Alpine Consortium and SingaporeGold Consortium to win the bid. -- ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM

Holed up in various hotel meeting rooms in the Marina Bay area, representatives of the three consortia bidding to build the Sports Hub huddled to await their fate.

For one consortium, yesterday morning would signal the start of an exciting 25-year journey, one which will see them build and run one of Asia's largest sports projects.

For the other two teams, it would be the end of the road, their two-year pursuit of a Singapore dream ending in disappointment.

Singapore Sports Council chief executive officer Oon Jin Teik was to be the bearer of both good and bad news.

His day started at 8am, at the Pan Pacific Hotel, where he met members of the Alpine Consortium and delivered the 'you lose' verdict.

An hour later, at the Marina Mandarin Singapore, it was the turn of SingaporeGold Consortium's to hear the heartbreaking news.

They also learnt that the Singapore Sports Hub (SSH) bid team had been selected as the preferred bidder to build and run the new National Stadium and Sports Hub.

Said Oon: 'It wasn't easy, because we've built a relationship over the last two years. Any one of the three could have been worthy partners. But, in the end, we could choose only one.

'After working closely for so long, it is only right that I meet them face to face to give final closure and explain to them what happened.'

Both unsuccessful parties were gracious in defeat and congratulated the winner.

The mood was significantly more upbeat when Oon returned to the Pan Pacific at 10am and told the SSH team 'you win'.

Naturally, Ludwig Reichhold, managing director of France-based construction firm Dragages Singapore and consortium head, and the team's spokesman, Christian Brezet, were all smiles.

So, too, was Lynn Tho, the director of project and export finance of equity investor HSBC.

Said Reichhold: 'With such stiff competition, you never know till the end. Jin Teik told us it was very close.'

A comprehensive calendar of events played a key role in swinging the project SSH Consortium's way.

At yesterday's press conference to announce the winning team, Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said the consortium's teamwork was also impressive.

Said Reichhold: 'It's a very close team and the journey is great. There were over 100 people involved in over 10 countries, it was such a challenge. The team spirit was very strong.'

The team stood out during the consortia's presentations by turning up in matching tops. But the closeness went beyond that.

For example, Dragages Singapore have been collaborating with Singapore-based partners DP Architects for the past 15 years.

Added Reichhold: 'I think our strong local presence gave us an edge. It was important to tailor the feature of the design to the local landscape.'

At the Dragages office in Keppel Road, sounds of popping champagne and loud cheers broke the silence of a Saturday afternoon. The joy was not only confined to Singapore.

Said Brezet: 'I woke up our partners in London, Paris, and America today. It was probably the only time they were glad I disturbed their sleep.'

For Brezet, Dragages Singapore's business development manager, the news was also happily greeted by his family.

Said the Frenchman, who moved to Singapore two years ago to work on the Sports Hub project: 'My wife has been asking me where we will be next year.

'Before today, I could not answer her. Now I can tell her we will be in Singapore for the next 25 years.'

marclim@sph.com.sg

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