National Stadium (GPS: 1.30432, 103.87433) is the biggest stadium in Singapore. It is located on Stadium Drive, off the Nicoll Highway, in the Tanjong Rhu subzone of Kallang. Built at a cost of S$1.87 billion, the present stadium was completed on 30 June, 2014. It replaces the old National Stadium which was built in 1973, and was in use until 2007.
The Singapore National Stadium is the centrepiece of the Singapore Sports Hub, a sporting complex that includes the OCBC Aquatic Centre, the OCBC Arena, the Singapore Sports Museum, the Sports Hub Library, the Kallang Wave shopping mall and the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Nearby and fronting the Kallang Basin is the Water Sports Centre.
The National Stadium has a maximum capacity of 55,000 spectators for football and rugby matches. It can also accommodate 52,000 spectators for cricket and 50,000 for athletic meets and music concerts. The seating arrangement in the lowest tier is mechanised and can be reconfigured to match the required event. The reconfiguration of the seating takes 48 hours to be completed.
The most interesting feature of the National Stadium is its retractable roof which can can shelter the field like an egg shell. Made from a light weight material called ETFE, it is the largest retractable stadium roof in the world. Both sides of the roof, the inside and outside, also serve as projector screens.
The National Day Parade was held at the new National Stadium for the first time in 2016. However, the event exposed some limitations of the stadium. Due to safety concerns, the Singapore Armed Forces Parachute Team could not parachut into the domed stadium. In addition to that, spectators inside the stadium have difficulties in watching the military flypast and the fireworks, all blocked by the retractable roof, which could not be pulled aside completely. These, along with the fact that it costs three times more to hold the National Day parade at the National Stadium, compared to at NS Square, the floating platform at Marina Bay. After the 2016 experience, the Prime Minister announced that future National Day Parades would return to the floating platform area.
National Stadium on Google Maps Street View
National Stadium (Mar 2017)
Taking the MRT to National Stadium
The Stadium MRT Station (CC6) is located within the Singapore Sports Hub right outside the National Stadium. It is served by trains of the Circle Line.
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