Korea’s first domed baseball park is already well under construction in west Seoul. The stadium is meant to replace Dongdaemun Stadium which was demolished back in 2008 and is being built in Gocheok-dong, Guro (구로구 고척동). Construction began on the stadium in May 2009 and is now estimated to cost up to nearly 76.1 billion won. Though original plans had the completion date set for just two years later in 2011, it was later changed to the very last day of 2013. The IBAP AAA Under 18s Junior Baseball World Cup is being held in South Korea this year and although it was hoped that the tournament could take place in the new stadium, the event has now been moved elsewhere.
The stadium — which doesn’t seem to have been officially named yet, is four stories high, two stories deep, and will be able to hold up to 22,258 spectators. The roof was originally planned as a “half dome” but the design was changed to a “hybrid” full dome. Not only pro baseball games, but amateur baseball and other events such as music concerts will be held at the venue all year round, rain or shine. Accordingly, full heating and air conditioning systems will be installed with some power provided by solar panels on the building in an effort to reduce energy consumption. The dome will also reduce bright lights and crowd noise from disturbing residents nearby.
