Renovated Jangchung Gym opens Saturday
A bird’s eye view shows renovated Jangchung Gymnasium. After going through two years and eight months of long renovation period, the gym reopens Saturday. / Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
Everything except its name has changed.
The 51-year-old Jangchung Gymnasium, Korea’s first indoor gymnasium, will reopen Saturday after going through two years and eight months of renovations.
Located in Jangchung-dong, Jung-gu, central Seoul, near Mount Nam, the gymnasium had been a Mecca for various kinds of indoor sports events and national elections ever since it was first opened in February 1963.
In May, 2012, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation began remodeling the gym, whose condition had deteriorated, in order to make the facility more audience-friendly.
The city government said the previous gym with three floors above ground and one underground has been widened from 8,385 to 11,429 square meters, and now it has two floors underground. The newly built second basement floor will be used as a subsidiary arena for athletes and as a fitness center for local residents. The seating capacity of the gym is 4,507.
The city government explained that it completely changed the roof of the gym, which was graded “D,” meaning the facility needed repair work right away.
The new roof panel has a dynamic curve, symbolizing the country’s indigenous fan and mask dances, the city government added.
With the new look, the Jangchung Gymnasium will hold not only sports events such as martial arts tournaments, and volleyball and basketball matches, but also cultural performances including musicals and concerts.
The new Jangchung Gymnasium will be easier to access than before as it is directly connected with Dongguk University Station of Subway Line No. 3. To let visitors know about the history of the gym, the subway passage to it is decorated with famous sports figures who performed there. They include former professional wrestler Kim Il and Kim Ki-soo, Korea’s first world boxing champion.
For the convenience of female spectators, the gym now has 1.7 times more toilets compared to the number of men’s toilets. Also, it has breast feeding, and medical rooms and information booths.
GS Caltex returns home
With the gymnasium reopening, the GS Caltex Seoul KIXX, a women’s professional volleyball team in the Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO), which used the gym as their home stadium, will now be able to hold home matches.
During the renovation period, the team used the Ichung Sports Cultural Center in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province as their home stadium.
The re-opening ceremony for the gymnasium will be held Saturday.
At 11 a.m., a fan-signing event will be held, featuring more than 100 sports stars including former volleyball player Jang Yun-chang, former basketball player Shin Dong-pa, former boxers Hong Soo-hwan and Kim Kwang-sun and professional wrestler Lee Wang-pyo. After about an hour-long cheerleaders’ performance from noon, the opening ceremony will resume from 1 p.m.
After the ceremony, commemorating events such as a volleyball game involving professional volleyball players and volleyball fans, taekwondo performances and a performance by the rock band Boohwal will be held.