Pyeongchang’s Olympic Stadium will reportedly be demolished after being used just four times for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
The $100m (£70m/€80m) venue will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics. The Associated Press news agency reports that officials have decided to tear it down after the Games have concluded.
With the 35,000-seat stadium located in a mountainous county of 40,000 people, and no winter sports or local professional teams that could regularly fill the ground, officials do not want to leave a venue unoccupied as a physical reminder of arguably wasted money.
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The move is decisive, but not unprecedented, as the Olympic Stadium in Grenoble, France was torn down after the 1968 Games, as was the host venue for the 1992 Games in Albertville, France.
Meanwhile, other Olympic venues have successfully been turned into functional stadiums with tenants such as Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Stadium, which was turned into Turner Field and now Georgia State Stadium.
Another issue is that the South Korean province of Gangwon funded the Olympic bid, due to the fact that the federal government footed the bill for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and the 2002 World Cup. Therefore, Gangwon officials are on their own to finance the upkeep of any remaining stadiums.
The Pyeongchang 2018 winter Games are due to take place from February 9-25.
Image: Pyeongchang 2018
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