Belgrade Arena
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| Beogradska arena | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | Belgrade, Serbia |
| Opened | 2004 |
| Owner | City of Belgrade |
| Architect | Vlada Slavica |
| Tenants | |
| N/A | |
| Capacity | |
| 20,000 | |
Belgrade Arena (Serbian Cyrillic: Београдска арена, Serbian Latin: Beogradska arena), opened in 2004, is the biggest and most up-to-date sports complex in Belgrade, Serbia, and is designed as a universal hall for all sports events, including basketball, handball, volleyball, tennis, athletics, and a hall for cultural events and other programs. With the total space that covers 48,000 square metres[1], and a total capacity of up to 23,000 seats (for handball events; standard 20,000 seats), it is among biggest sport arenas in Europe. Its cost is estimated at €70 million.
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[edit] History
In 1989, The City of Belgrade was chosen to host the Basketball World Championship of 1994. However, there was a condition for the city to build an all-new basketball arena. The city government immediately started a comepetition to find the best design of the new arena that was supposed to have a seat capacity of 20,000. Architect Vlada Slavica from Belgrade submitted the best design.
In 1991 a location for the project was chosen – “Block 25” in New Belgrade. However the project was already becoming problematic. There were only 3 years left to the World Championships and building this mega structure would have to be done in record time. A team of a 126 companies was formed to be part of the arena committee. Two architects were chosen to design the roof of the arena.
In 1992 construction started and the arena committee formed a partnership with American company HOK that has had many experiences with building sporting objects. However, tough times were ahead. As the conflicts and separation of Yugoslavia started, the United Nations imposed sanctions on Serbia (one of the two remaining republics of Yugoslavia at the time) and HOK stopped all co-operation with the arena committee. Even with this set back, work on the Belgrade Arena continued.
In 1993 Serbia went through one of its blackest years in modern history. The country was thrown into a record inflation rates, and as a result of the sanctions and the conflicts in Yugoslavia, Belgrade lost the right to host the 1994 Basketball World Championships.
Construction of the arena continued, however it was becoming slower as there was a lack of material and finally in 1995 construction of this what was to be world-class arena completely stopped. Work on the arena re-commenced in 1998 as the city was chosen to host the world table tennis competition in 1999 to be held in the Belgrade Arena. By this time the roof was already taking shape towards completion, part of the façade was done and the interior was half complete. Once again, Serbia lost the privilege to host the competition as the city was bombed by NATO forces the year the competition was supposed to be held.
After a change of government in Serbia in 2000 and the dropping of all sanctions imposed on the country, the Arena, under new management was completed by 2004 in time for the Diamond ball tournament and Belgrade finally got the right to host The European Basketball Championship 2005.
Temporary license for public use expired in early 2006, following a series of sport events and concerts in 2005. Works on automated fire prevention system and installation of elevators to meet European standards have been completed by November 2006, while no events were held in the Arena in the meantime. The Belgrade Arena received its permanent public use license on November 4, 2006.
[edit] Past events
[edit] 2000
- September 20, 2000 - Socialist Party of Serbia / Yugoslav Left, final election campaign rally. Construction of the Arena wasn't finished at the moment.
[edit] 2004
- July 31, 2004 - Official opening of the Belgrade Arena.
- July 31 to August 3, 2004 - Diamond Ball 2004, pre-olympic basketball tournament
- August 6, 2004 - Basketball friendly: Serbia and Montenegro vs. United States
[edit] 2005
- July 8 to July 10, 2005 - Volleyball FIVB World League Final Four Tournament
- September 2 to September 7, 2005 - European Volleyball Championship, jointly hosted by Serbian and Italian capitals Belgrade and Rome.
- September 16 to September 25, 2005 - European Basketball Championship (Eurobasket 2005). Arena hosted quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.
- October 2, 2005 - David Copperfield, American illusionist
- October 15, 2005 - Zdravko Čolić, Serbian pop performer
- October 16, 2005 - Zdravko Čolić, Serbian pop performer
- October 28, 2005 - Phil Collins, English pop performer (First Final Farewell Tour)
- November 15, 2005 - Andrea Bocelli, Italian tenor
[edit] 2006
- November 6, 2006 - 50 Cent, American rapper
- December 23, 2006 - Bajaga i Instruktori, Serbian pop-rock band
[edit] 2007
- January 16, 2007 - Serbian Radical Party, election campaign rally
- January 17, 2007 - Democratic Party of Serbia / New Serbia, final election campaign rally
- January 18, 2007 - Democratic Party, final election campaign rally
- February 14, 2007 - Toše Proeski, Macedonian pop-folk singer
- March 8, 2007 - Željko Samardžić, Serbian pop singer
- March 10, 2007 - Riblja čorba, Serbian rock band
- March 25 to April 1, 2007 - European Table Tennis Championships
[edit] Upcoming events
- April 6 to April 8, 2007 - European Judo Championships
- April 17, 2007 - Busta Rhymes, American hip hop musician
- April 20, 2007 - Željko Joksimović, Serbian pop-folk singer
- June 13, 2007 - The Chemical Brothers, English electronic duo
- June 21, 2007 - ZZ Top, American blues rock band
- December 10, 2007 - Miroslav Ilić, Serbian folk singer
[edit] Location and contact
- Mailing address
- Beogradska arena
- Španskih boraca 20
- 11070 Belgrade
- Serbia
- Phone - +381 11 311 23 80
- Fax - +381 11 131 321
- E-Mail - arena@beotel.yu
[edit] Public access
Belgrade Transport Authority bus lines 17, 18, 67, 88 and 601 serve the Arena. Within short walking distance are buses no. 16, 65, 68, 71, 74, 75, 94 and 95; trams 7, 9 and 11; Beovoz (Belgrade Suburban Train) station Novi Beograd.
Hotels Hyatt Regency Belgrade, Hotel Sava Belgrade and Hotel IN are also within walking distance of the venue.
Arena is situated on E-70/E-75 highway, leading to Novi Sad and Budapest in the North, Zagreb in the West and Niš and Athens in the South. Arena's parking is limited in spaces, though nearby residential areas provide enough room for vehicles.
It takes a 15-minute drive from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to the Arena. Ride from downtown Belgrade would take the same amount of time, unless in rush-hour, when it could take up to 30 minutes to get to central Novi Beograd, where Arena is located.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
