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St. Jakobshalle is an arena in Basel on the adjacent territory of the municipality of Münchenstein, Switzerland. It is primarily used for indoor sports and concert events. The main arena has a capacity of 12,400 people (originally 9,000) and was opened in September 1976. It is the home of the Swiss Indoors men's tennis tournament.
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| Location | Basel, Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 47°32′23″N 7°37′07″E / 47.53972°N 7.61861°E |
| Owner | City of Basel |
| Capacity | 12,400 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | April 19, 1971 |
| Opened | September 26, 1976 |
| Renovated | 2015–2018[1] |
| Architect | Giovanni Panozzo[2] Renovation: Berrel Berrel Kräutler in collaboration with Degelo Architekten |
| Tenants | |
| EHC Basel (1976–2002) | |
| Website | |
| www | |
The building has different sized halls and rooms, which are used for all types of events. Each year, the world's elite badminton players gather for their international grand prix tournament and the best European Sepak takraw players meet.
History
editThe Swiss Indoors men's annual tennis tournament is held at the St. Jakobshalle since 1975 and the Women's Top Volley International since 1989. International equestrian tournament CSI Basel is held at the venue every year since 2010.
Other sporting events include the 1986 World Men's Handball Championship, 1991 Swiss Open, 1998 IIHF World Championship, 2006 European Men's Handball Championship, 2019 BWF World Championships, 2024 European Women's Handball Championship, 2028 European Men's Handball Championship and the World Men's Curling Championship in 2012 and 2016.
It was the home of EHC Basel ice hockey team from 1976 to 2002 before the team moved to the St. Jakob Arena, which opened in October 2002.
According to Bob Dylan's biography Chronicles: Volume One, he decided after a concert at St. Jakobshalle to go on the Never Ending Tour.
In May 2025, the arena will host the Eurovision Song Contest following Nemo's win at the previous year's event with "The Code".[3]
Renovation
editIn January 2015, the Grand Council of Basel-Stadt approved a loan of CHF 105 million for the renovation and modernisation of the hall, with 89 votes in favor and one abstention.[1] Between 2016 and 2018 the venue was comprehensively renovated and its technology upgraded to state-of-the-art. It reopened in October 2018 and now has a capacity of 12,400 in the main arena.[4] The complex also houses five smaller halls with variable capacity, a business center, VIP area, four gymnasiums and a 25-meter swimming pool. The car park has 1,465 spaces.
After the success of the Swiss tennis player and Basel native Roger Federer, the Basel sports director had announced the arena was to be renamed the 'Roger Federer Arena' following the current renovation,[5] but this was blocked in a local council vote.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "St. Jakobshalle erhält Kredit". 14 January 2015 – via www.bazonline.ch.
- ^ http://www.stjakobshalle.ch/__temp/Urkunde.pdf[permanent dead link]
- ^ Oltermann, Philip (2024-08-30). "Basel to host Eurovision song contest for Switzerland in 2025". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
- ^ "St Jakobshalle opens after $110 million refurbishment". Audience. October 31, 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- ^ Roger Federer Has Arena Named After Him in Basel Archived 2012-07-30 at the Wayback Machine The Tennis Times June 10, 2009
External links
edit Media related to St. Jakobshalle at Wikimedia Commons