Gyeonggi Province to Establish 10 New Public Sports Facilities Including Gymnasiums
[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Hong Seong-gil] Gyeonggi Province announced on the 7th that it will newly establish various comprehensive sports facilities including gymnasiums and swimming pools across 10 locations in 8 cities and counties within the province.
The province recently saw 11 projects selected through the 2019 Community Sports SOC Expansion Support Project's additional recruitment round led by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, securing 14.1 billion won in national funding. The selected projects include 9 National Sports Centers, 1 open-type multipurpose gymnasium, and 1 public sports facility renovation project.
This additional recruitment project, conducted as part of the government's 'Community SOC' investment initiative, was divided into three categories: National Sports Centers tailored to the daily needs of people with disabilities, open-type multipurpose gymnasiums, and neighborhood-level National Sports Centers (small-scale gymnasiums).
The additional recruitment followed the initial selection process in March, targeting remaining projects from local governments nationwide. Through close collaboration with cities and counties, Gyeonggi Province achieved the acquisition of a total of 66 billion won in national funding, comprising 51.9 billion won from the initial recruitment and 14.1 billion won from the additional recruitment.
Examining the additional recruitment results, one location was selected for a National Sports Center tailored to the daily needs of people with disabilities, which guarantees priority use for people with disabilities while serving as an integrated sports facility for all. The selected site is in Hyun-ri, Jojong-myeon, Gapyeong County, equipped with a multipurpose gymnasium and multipurpose hall.
For the open-type multipurpose gymnasium (swimming pool type) utilizing school grounds, Gasu Elementary School in Osan was selected, with sports facilities spanning 2,800 square meters across three above-ground floors and featuring a swimming pool and multipurpose gymnasium.
Eight locations were selected for neighborhood-level National Sports Centers constructing small-scale indoor gymnasiums (under 1,000 square meters) equipped with badminton and basketball courts: Mashan-dong in Gimpo, Namsa-myeon in Yongin, Dongtan 2-dong in Hwaseong, and five other sites.
The province expects that the selection of neighborhood-level National Sports Center support projects spanning all areas of Gyeonggi Province including Gimpo, Yongin, Hwaseong, Bucheon, Gwangju, Osan, and Yangpyeong will contribute to balanced distribution of public sports facilities. Notably, among the 80 neighborhood-level National Sports Center projects selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism this year, 30 were selected in Gyeonggi Province alone, achieving the maximum results.
A total of 14 billion won in national funding and 23 billion won in local funding will be invested in the construction of these 10 new sports facilities. Additionally, Uiwang's Naeson Table Tennis Center was selected for public sports facility renovation support and will receive 100 million won in national funding.
Meanwhile, the province projects that the National Sports Center tailored to the daily needs of people with disabilities and the open-type multipurpose gymnasium (swimming pool type) will require approximately 3 to 4 years from project selection to completion, while the neighborhood-level National Sports Centers (small-scale gymnasiums) receiving intensive support in 2019 are expected to take approximately 1 to 2 years from project selection to completion.
Jang Young-geun, Director of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, said, "To realize the 7th Popular Mandate's pledge of 'Creating a New Gyeonggi and Fair World Through Sports,' we will continue to expand Community Sports SOC. We will proceed without disruption so that all residents can easily enjoy sports activities wherever they are."