Jamsil Student Gymnasium to cut seating and add swimming and diving facilities... opening in the first half of next year

[Financial News] Seoul’s Jamsil Student Gymnasium, which opened in 1977, will be transformed from a facility focused on watching basketball games into a multipurpose complex supporting students’ physical education and experiential activities. Its total floor area will grow 2.2-fold, from 11,471 to 25,731 square meters, and a 50-meter, 10-lane swimming pool and a diving facility will be added. The gymnasium’s spectator seating will be reduced from 5,400 to 1,008 seats.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 27th that, in cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, it plans to relocate and rebuild Jamsil Student Gymnasium southwest of the main stadium at Jamsil Sports Complex, with an opening targeted for the first half of next year. Public contributions related to Hyundai Motor Group’s Global Business Complex (GBC) will be used for the construction project.
The new gymnasium will have four basement levels and two above-ground floors. The existing building has one basement level and three above-ground floors, with a total floor area of 11,471 square meters. In addition to a multipurpose gymnasium, swimming pool and diving facility, the new building will include one audiovisual room and seven multipurpose rooms. The swimming pool will have 505 spectator seats. The existing gymnasium’s seats and the swimming pool’s seats will total 1,513, fewer than the 5,400 seats in the existing gymnasium.
The facility’s function will also change. The existing gymnasium was used mainly for basic venue rentals and watching basketball games, while the new facility will focus on supporting students’ physical activities and hands-on learning. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to strengthen practical survival-swimming instruction for elementary school students and link it with regular physical education classes and school sports clubs. Survival swimming is instruction in swimming skills needed to protect one’s life if one falls into the water.
The project will be carried out with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education taking on different responsibilities. The city will handle design, permits and construction, while the Office of Education will be responsible for operating and maintaining the facility after completion. The project outline lists a new site of 11,389 square meters, the same size as the existing site, and specifies a one-for-one land exchange. An agreement between the city and the Office of Education on the transfer of public property, along with GBC’s donation of the building, is scheduled for the first half of next year.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education expects to expand its education-related public assets by more than 25,000 square meters using GBC public contributions, without investing its own education funds. The Office of Education will, however, be responsible for operating and maintaining the facility. The new gymnasium is planned for use as a physical education space for students on weekdays and to open to the public for recreational sports after school and on weekends.
The Office of Education plans to open the facility in stages after its completion in February next year, following preliminary test runs and a comprehensive safety inspection. It has also completed prior consultations on safety measures for students commuting to school, including installing safety barriers alongside surrounding development areas and separating dedicated pedestrian routes. The comprehensive relocation and operations plan is scheduled to be finalized this December.
“The newly built Student Gymnasium will be a future-oriented sports and cultural space that provides students with a better physical education environment and gives citizens a foundation for recreational sports and cultural activities,” said Lee Su-geun, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Student Gymnasium. “We will work closely with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and relevant institutions to create a gymnasium that both students and citizens can be satisfied with.”

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter