Seoul unveiled plans Saturday to build a world-class “sports and MICE complex” in Jamsil, including a 30,000-seat dome stadium.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the new dome stadium in Jamsil will begin construction in earnest after the 2025 baseball season ends. Construction will begin in earnest after the current Jamsil Baseball Stadium is dismantled. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2031. It is expected to cost around 500 billion won. Seoul Smart Myspace Park, the preferred bidder, will be in charge of the project, with Hanwha as the general contractor.
However, there is a problem. The LG Twins and Doosan Bears, who use Jamsil Baseball Stadium as their home for six years while the new dome is being built, will have to find a temporary home. However, there is no clear solution in sight.
Various ideas have been proposed. The most prominent one was to remodel the Jamsil main stadium into a baseball field while the new dome is being built.
However, the Seoul Metropolitan Government nailed it: “The Jamsil main stadium cannot be used.” “If the surrounding construction is carried out, the road to the alternative stadium will be almost completely blocked, and only a five-meter road on the Bongunsa side of Line 9 will remain, and accidents are inevitable if crowds come and go there,” the Seoul Metropolitan Government explained.
The KBO, LG, and Doosan requested to secure a passage to the Jamsil Sports Complex station. However, the Seoul Metropolitan Government refused. “Not only is it difficult to build a passageway here, but there is a possibility of a construction delay of nearly a year,” the city said.
In the meantime, LG and Doosan will have to find a third location. They can share the Gocheok Sky Dome, which is currently used by the Kiwoom Heroes, but only one team can do so. Mokdong Stadium, which was the home of the Kiwoom Heroes until the Gocheok Sky Dome was built, has poor facilities for professional baseball games. When professional baseball games were held in the past, there were many complaints from nearby residents about lighting and noise. Now that professional baseball games are not held there, it is difficult to organize amateur games.
“We considered remodeling Jamsilju Stadium to create a 17,000-seat alternative stadium, but it was determined that it was not feasible based on expert opinions that there would be safety concerns if multiple construction projects were carried out at the same time,” said a Seoul Metropolitan Government official.
“LG, Doosan, and the KBO proposed to divide the construction, but they did not accept it because it is not easy to secure safety and air delays of more than 10 months are inevitable,” he said. “We plan to discuss with the KBO and clubs how to share it with existing teams such as Gocheok Dome, Mokdong Baseball Stadium, or Suwon and Incheon.” 먹튀검증
However, it is difficult for Seoul-based teams to play their home games in Suwon or Incheon. It would be a serious blow to their identity. The team’s gate receipts would also suffer. The biggest losers would be baseball fans in the Seoul area. “This is why critics say that the Seoul Metropolitan Government is too unaware of the fans’ wishes and the reality of the clubs.
For now, LG and Doosan have decided to create a joint task force with the KBO. A KBO official said, “The two clubs will remodel Jamsil Stadium during the construction period.