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Durban's R1.6bn 2010 stadium
15/06/2006 21:33 - (SA)
Shirley Jones
Pietermaritzburg - Durban's R1.6bn World Cup Soccer stadium was unveiled by KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele and eThekwini mayor Obed Mlaba on Thursday.
Named after King Shaka's father, the King Senzangakhona Stadium will anchor a precinct that includes the "Central Park of Africa" and an undisclosed number of additional stadiums. All will be named after Zulu kings.
The 70 000 seater King Senzangakhona Stadium is expected to be "substantially finished" by the end of 2008 with the final touches following shortly afterwards so it can be handed over in 2009 for the Confederation Cup that will precede the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
It will be the venue for a number of matches and a semi-final during the 2010 spectacle. The stadium is also central to Durban's bids for the Commonwealth and Olympic Games.
KwaZulu-Natal is the first province and Durban the first city to reveal its stadium plans. The Senzangakhona Stadium is also the first project of this size and value to be built there.
The doughnut-shaped, space-age design, with a 30-storey arch, will sit on the existing King's Park Soccer Stadium site fronting on to Walter Gilbert Road.
There will be restaurants and coffee bars on a piazza area.
Walter Gilbert Road will be paved and commercialised. It will be closed as a pedestrian thoroughfare during events and opened for slow-moving traffic in between.
70 000 car underground parking
Julie-May Ellingson, head of the city's strategic project unit and the 2010 programme, told The Witness that the stadium was designed as part of a Central Park of Africa concept.
Plans to invest hundreds of millions in a 70 000-car underground parking facility next to the stadium (that is not part of the official stadium
contract) also have been given the green light.
It will stretch back to Argyle Road underneath the existing railway shunting yards and be topped by a park.
Versatile stadium
A link to adjacent beaches has been proposed but not yet finalised.
Details of proposed developments surrounding the new stadium remain sketchy, but Ellingson said the final Kings' Park framework plan had been finalised and submitted to various sports federations within the precinct for final comment.
The stadium design has allowed for a huge amount of versatility.
Ellingson said the floor level of the stadium could be raised by about 1.6m and retrofitted to form a world-class athletics track at little cost.
This equips the city to bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
In addition, the stadium can accommodate most sports (with the exception of cricket) and is integral to an active campaign to attract more international sporting events to Durban.
'Sustainable projects'
Ndebele said: "The new Senzangakhona Stadium will act as the hub of the Kings' Park precinct for all the other facilities and initiatives within the province.
"The new stadium will be an iconic, world-class, multipurpose stadium.
"We are determined that the benefits of hosting a World Cup event will be long-term and that the projects we embark on to get 2010 ready are sustainable and focused on our long-term strategic objectives for eThekwini and for KwaZulu-Natal."
- The Witness
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