Apparently, they decided that having the world's largest stadium wasn't enough so they decided to make it it's own city According the website of the designers (Marks Barfield, the designers of the london eye and Berlin's olympic bid) The price tag? 10 billion Saudi Riyals. That's about 2.6 billion United States dollars. Now I know that seems like a lot but for the amount of stuff we're getting it seems like a fair deal. The only detail missing? How many seats are in the damn stadium.
100k was the capacity mentioned in all the reports. However Aramco recently issued prequalification documents to contractors and apparently the capacity listed is a much more reasonable 60k. Some renders: BTW the Marks Barfield text says the stadium will be located in the eastern edge of the airport. If only! That would be a much better location than the area next to the chicken farms(which is the real location AFAIK).
any estimates when this is going to finish? when is construction going to start? 2020 reasonable enough?
I heard a scheduled completion date of late 2013 for the stadium. That might be out of date, but it is doable. Let's say 2014, same as the new airport terminal
Well they've scaled down the project: http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/flagship-saudi-scheme-slashed/5006115.article How long until it is cancelled completely? While I think this is a white elephant, I don't want it cancelled unless there's a good alternative in place. My fear that Jeddah as usual gets squat.
Please tell me it doesn't have a running track? I think an important reason why the KFIS rarely goes above 55k in attendance is the running track (its absence would make the lower rows and the sections behind the goals much more attractive to fans. I would gladly attend a match behind the goals if I wasn't sitting a 100 km away from the field).
So, they just got rid of the "Sports City" part and kept the stadium. If the stadium itself goes forward that's a good thing. Who the hell is going to drive that far to go to the gym or play squash or gymnastics or whatever they were planing on doing there. I was just about to comment on why everything in this country has to be a "city" and why we can't just build a normal stadium like everyone else in the world.
I think it's a law to have a running track. All stadiums in KSA have it. I really would wish there was an English style stadium in Saudi Arabia but you know they'd say "fans will interfere with the game if we didn't have an area for security.
I doubt that there's literally a *law* that requires it, but you're right that it's probably motivated by security concerns. The idea of football as spectacle hasn't really penetrated into the heads of the dinosaurs in charge of these things.
Let's hope this will trigger an upward spiral for mega projects in Jeddah as she suffered a lot due to poor infrastructure and facilities in the last decade... A state of the art stadium in Jeddah is overdue...
The project has been relaunched. Thankfully they've seen sense and relocated closer to the city, next to the airport. Another good thing is lack of running track in the main stadium. Of course it's still OTT Some renders of the project (posted in skyscrapercity by Rody69):
I want to see the scale of the project though. A 60k seater is a lot more reasonable than the old estimates so I'm happy for that but a 550 million USD seems a bit high for just a stadium, if it includes development of the surrounding area then it seems a good deal. And hey, let's just consider this to be giving a helping hand to our Egyptian neighbor's to get their economy and running again
The design of the stadium has been modified. I prefer the old one, but decent enough I guess: Due for completion late 2014
http://www.stadiumzone.weebly.com has some pictures of Saudi stadiums, who has pictures of other venues? The national stadium in Riyadh is very impressive, it has the largest roof in the world.
Stadium almost complete, the grass has been planted: Just over two weeks to go according to the countdown clock Looking good
I have to admit. They finished this stadium in record time. Probably because it has the King's name on it.