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An artist's impression of Korea's first domed baseball stadium to be built in Gocheok-dong, Seoul
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Korea will get its first domed baseball stadium in Gocheok-dong, Seoul. The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Wednesday said it will build a fully domed ballpark instead of a partially domed stadium it had originally planned in the southwestern part of the capital.
The Gocheok-dong domed baseball stadium will have about 23,000 seats, smaller than domed ballparks such as the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome.
The city government had originally planned to build a 20,203-seat ballpark with a 25 percent-roofed spectators' stand by September 2010. But with the new plans, the city decided to increase the number of seats and delay completion by a year until September 2011.
The city said it revised the construction plan because there were calls for a proper dome now that the popularity of baseball has increased due to Team Korea finishing as the runner-up in the World Baseball Classic in March. There were also concerns that noise and lighting from an open stadium would affect 2,900 households in nearby apartment complexes and three schools.
The city government hopes the dome will become a new baseball mecca and in the long run could build a 30,000-seater domed ballpark.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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