The development of the sports facility site in Gwangjang-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, which had been unfinished for 22 years, is expected to be completed. This follows the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's acceptance of Seoul's plan and the decision to grant development permission for the undeveloped site.
On the 22nd, the city of Seoul announced that it had received a 'conditional promotion' decision for the Gwangjang-dong sports facility development project from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
The Gwangjang-dong sports facility development is a project to establish a complex sports facility and transfer parking lot on a site of 24,378 square meters. A total of 229.5 billion won will be invested. This is part of a project to develop the entire 50,000 square meter area around Achasan-ro 586 in Gwangjin-gu into a sports facility site.
Initially, the city of Seoul planned to use this site as a playground through urban planning back in 1978. However, related development progressed sluggishly, and in 2003, it was decided to utilize the site for sports facilities. Since then, a sports center, youth training center, and performance hall have been established, filling about half of the site.
The site for which the city of Seoul received approval from the ministry this time is the remaining half of the land. The development of the undeveloped site, which had remained for 22 years, is now being actively pursued.
The delay in site development was due to conflicting views between the city of Seoul and Gwangjin-gu regarding the utilization of the sports facilities. The city wanted to build a training ground for its workplace sports team, but Gwangjin-gu argued that the facilities should be constructed for local residents to use as well. Ultimately, both parties agreed to build a complex sports facility that nearby residents could also use.
A city official noted, 'Since we passed the central investment review, we plan to actively promote the site development.'