Mayor Son: Dome stadium 'a vital project to boost Paju's future growth potential'
Paju held a project briefing Monday to review its preparations for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's open call for candidate sites for a multipurpose dome stadium combining sports and performance venues.
Paju Mayor Son Bae-chan, Deputy Mayor Choi Byeong-gap and relevant civil servants attended the briefing, where officials shared the key contents of the current project proposal and discussed candidate site conditions, the direction of the project and strategies for addressing each evaluation criterion.
The ministry's open call aims to select a candidate site for a multipurpose dome stadium that can serve a range of purposes, including sports events and performances. Paju plans to leverage feasibility studies and master planning work it has already conducted to secure selection in the competition.
The city views the bid as an opportunity to expand the large-scale sports and performance infrastructure that northern Gyeonggi Province currently lacks and to establish a new engine of regional growth, and is focusing its administrative resources on bid preparations.
Officials conducted a comprehensive review covering plans to create a mixed-use district linking the dome stadium with surrounding urban development, strategies to ensure accessibility via rail and road networks, measures to generate demand for sports and performances while stimulating the local economy, and future operations and management arrangements.
With Gyeonggi Province's candidate-site evaluation scheduled for this month, the city plans to concentrate its efforts on strengthening the case for the dome stadium and refining the project proposal. It will also prepare thoroughly for on-site inspections and written evaluations in order to secure selection as a candidate site by both Gyeonggi Province and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
"The dome stadium is more than a simple sports facility — it is a vital project that will expand the sports and cultural infrastructure that northern Gyeonggi Province has long been relatively lacking, and raise Paju's future growth potential," Mayor Son said. "Please do your utmost in the remaining bid preparations to ensure that Paju's locational strengths and development potential are fully reflected in the project proposal."
pjh@heraldcorp.com
