|
HOSTING BEACH VOLLEYBALL SPIKES and beach wrestling slams is Siloso Beach (above) while Singapore Sports School will open its doors to swimmers, pentathletes, weightlifters and volleyball players. -- ST PHOTOS: ALBERT SIM
|
|
|
THE lustre is in the cluster for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
So said last month's report by the International Olympic Committee evaluation commission.
It pointed to the Republic's compact, five-cluster venue plan in the North, North-west, East, West and central parts of the island as one of its biggest strengths.
There will be 19 competition venues and all are within 30 minutes of travel time from the Youth Olympic Village at Clementi.
Of Singapore's proposed US$75.5 million (S$107 million) budget for organising the Games, US$6.87 million will be spent on temporary and permanent works at the various venues.
Temporary works account for US$5.73 million, and include setting up temporary spectator stands, lighting and infrastructure for security and doping controls plus media facilities.
Poh Yu Khing, the Singapore Sports Council's director for facility planning, and the man in charge of sports and venues and the Village, took time off to explain the cluster plan to The Sunday Times.
Centre of action
The Marina-Kallang area, a central business and shopping district for Singaporeans, will be the heart of Singapore 2010.
Just 17 minutes from the Village, this main zone will play host to 13 of the 26 sports.
Said Poh: 'The public plays a big role when deciding on the sports venues as we want all Singaporeans to have easy access to the Games and be part of the event.
'The Kallang-Marina area is a social centre close to the business district and malls, so it is ideal,' he said.
'For the other sports, we focus on clustering them around community sports facilities and bringing them to the heartlands.'
Boxing, fencing, handball, judo, taekwondo and wrestling will send roars through the vast 25,000 sq m exhibition halls of the International Convention Centre at Suntec City.
Rowing and canoeing will be at the Marina Reservoir instead of traditional venues like the MacRitchie and Pandan reservoirs.
This will allow spectators to catch the action amid the cool of the lush Gardens by the Bay.
The opening and closing ceremonies will be at Marina's 27,000-seater Floating Stadium.
Set against the stunning city skyline, it will be an experience like no other.
Also within this area are the Main Media Centre at the Marina Bay Sands and the Olympic Family Hotel at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia.
Meanwhile, nearby Kallang will host basketball, badminton, tennis and archery.
Beach volleyball spikes and beach wrestling slams will hit Sentosa's Siloso Beach, while hockey will be at Redhill's National Hockey Centre.
'When planning venues, we try to avoid stand-alone venues as there is less atmosphere,' explained Poh.
'Having one central venue allows fans to watch multiple sports at one go.
'They also get the buzz and compactness while the organisers enjoy economies of scale and efficiency.'
North
The Bishan Stadium - host of the athletics events and football finals - will be the Games' largest venue with the most overlay work needed.
Over US$1 million will be spent sprucing up the 10-year-old facility, which is located 19 minutes from the Village.
Works include adding 7,000 temporary seats to the existing 3,000 seats, resurfacing the running track, renovating the toilets and a new paint job.
Just next door, the Bishan Sports Hall will get a cool make-over with air-conditioning to be installed for the gymnastics competition.
Meanwhile, neighbouring heartland Toa Payoh will host diving at its swimming complex, and shooting and table tennis at its sports hall.
The initial plan was to have shooting at a stand-alone venue at Safra Yishun's indoor air weapons range.
'But it would have been the furthest venue from the Village. As a sport, it already creates very little interest, so we brought it into a cluster to create more buzz,' he said.
North-west
The five-hectare Singapore Turf Club Riding School at Kranji will be the only new venue to be built and will host the equestrian competition at a fully-sheltered riding arena just 19 minutes from the Village.
In the works since 2005, this new US$8 million (S$11.2million) facility, funded and owned by the Singapore Turf Club, will be completed by April next year.
Poh said the Riding School will leave a 'positive legacy' for the sport and its fraternity here.
Nearby at Woodlands, the Singapore Sports School will see swimming, indoor volleyball, modern pentathlon and weightlifting action grace its world-class facilities.
Said Poh: 'We decided to have two not-so-traditional sports, modern pentathlon and weightlifting, at the Sports School to introduce them to the students there.'
East
The 60-hectare Tampines Bike Park, located 30 minutes from the Games Village, will see BMX and mountain bike cyclists tear up its tracks.
The existing 7km-long mountain bike trail, which offers several climbs and a challenging descent, is being upgraded to make it even more technically challenging.
The BMX portion of the park, now a favourite practice ground of BMX enthusiasts, is being developed into a full-scale and challenging track.
Nearly US$500,000 will be spent on these permanent upgrades. But they are a worthy investment, considering the lasting legacy that will be left behind for the sports and the local community, said Poh.
Nearby at the island's eastern coast, the National Sailing Centre will host the sailing competition, while the world's best youth triathletes will bare their bodies along the East Coast Park's sandy beaches and running and cycling tracks.
West
The western heartland of Jurong West and Choa Chu Kang, both just 17 minutes away from the Village, will host the football preliminary rounds.
jwang@sph.com.sg
|
