Seven years after the Indonesian capital province (DKI) destroyed the home ground of its leading football club, the 85-years-old Persija, to create the Menteng inner-city park, an allocation of US$110 million has been made to build an iconic stadium for the club in north Jakarta.
The 2-year project will create a FIFA-standard international venue with a capacity of 50,000 spectators. The stadium will not be exclusively used for football as it will include an athletics track around the playing field.
The building will take up about 30% of the 66.6 ha of land owned or to be acquired by the province and will be surrounded by the re-landscaped 'Taman BMW' gardens and urban jungle. Automobile parking will be provided beneath the stadium and parklands.
The sports facilities will include two fields for warm-up, secure transport lanes for player buses and VIP and supporter access and there will be use of both natural grass and artificial turf. There will also be a sand areas for beach football and volleyball. Public facilities will include jogging tracks, bike trails and a water park.
PT Pandega Desain Weharima's use of curvilinear lines as the stadium's signature is said to have been influenced by Olympic rings. However media have likened the design to the traditional turban of the local Betawi ethnic group.
The extensive new provincial sports facility and open space will stand in contrast to the huge, superbly planned - and allegedly corrupted - Senayan sports complex, built in the city's inner south for the 1963 Asian Games and still controlled by the central government.