Gyeonggi Province Secures 51.9 Billion Won in Government Funding for Public Sports Facility Expansion

Diverse comprehensive sports facilities including gymnasiums and swimming pools will be newly built in 29 locations across 15 cities and counties in Gyeonggi Province, including Yeongdeok-dong in Giheung-gu, Yongin-si and Gwol-dong in Osan-si.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 7th, in the 2019 Living Sports SOC Expansion Support Competition recently overseen by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 29 national sports centers and 30 public sports facility renovation projects were selected, securing 51.9 billion won in government funding.

This government competition was conducted to create sports spaces that residents can conveniently use anytime in their living areas, and was divided into five categories: community-focused national sports centers, general national sports centers, disabled-community-focused national sports centers, and neighborhood-life-type facilities.

Yeongdeok-dong in Yongin was selected for a general national sports center that will create a multi-purpose gymnasium. The facility will be built as a 4-story above-ground, 2-story below-ground structure with a total floor area of 4,986 square meters, equipped with a swimming pool and fitness center. Four locations were selected as community-focused national sports centers equipped with swimming pools, indoor gymnasiums, fitness centers, and jogging tracks: Gwol-dong in Osan, Bogae-myeon in Anseong, Singal-dong in Yongin, and Manghwol-dong in Hanam.

Two locations were selected as disabled-community-focused national sports centers, which guarantee priority access for the disabled while allowing anyone to use them: the Dongtan 2 Bandabi National Sports Center in Jangji-dong, Hwaseong (equipped with a multi-purpose gymnasium, lawn bowling lanes, and a fitness room) and the Anyang-si Disabled Sports Center in Anyang-dong, Anyang-si (equipped with a gymnasium and table tennis courts).

Twenty-two locations were selected as neighborhood-life-type national sports centers for constructing small-scale indoor gymnasiums (under 1,000 square meters) equipped with badminton and basketball courts, including Songsan-myeon in Hwaseong, Eungye District in Siheung, and Gwangmyeong-dong in Gwangmyeong. The province expects that selecting neighborhood-life-type national sports centers in the northeastern Gyeonggi region including Yangju, Pocheon, Gapyeong, Yeoncheon, Gwangju, and Yangpyeong will help achieve balanced distribution of public sports facilities. A total of 42.7 billion won in government funding and 98.8 billion won in local funding will be invested in the construction of these 29 new sports facilities.

Additionally, 30 existing sports facilities in 18 cities and counties including the Gyeonggi Province Judo Hall and Sungsa Municipal Tennis Court in Goyang-si were selected as renovation support targets for public sports facilities and will receive 9.2 billion won in government funding.

Gyeonggi Province maintained a cooperative system with cities and counties to secure government funding, including holding a city and county directors' meeting chaired by Oh Hu-seok, Director of the Gyeonggi Province Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, in January.

Director Oh Hu-seok stated, “As a result of actively participating in the living sports SOC competition through cooperation with cities and counties, we achieved the outcome of securing 51.9 billion won in government funding,” and added, “We will proceed without any setbacks so that all residents of Gyeonggi Province can easily enjoy sports activities.”

Gyeonggi Province anticipates that general-type, community-focused-type, and disabled-community-focused-type national sports centers will take approximately 3 to 4 years from project selection to completion, while neighborhood-life-type national sports centers will take approximately 1 to 2 years from project selection to completion.