Kai Tak Sports Park

American engineering firm AECOM was engaged by the Civil Engineering and Development Department to undertake the Kai Tak Development project in early 2007.^[9] In the 2011–12 policy address delivered by Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, he stated that the government is studying financing options and mode of operation of the proposed multi-purpose stadium complex at Kai Tak and will start the preliminary work as soon as possible.^[10]

On 5 November 2012, the Home Affairs Bureau completed an initial technical feasibility study of the Kai Tak multi-purpose complex and submitted it to the Legislative Council. In the study, the bureau proposed a "design-build-operate" approach – design, construction, operations and maintenance under a single entity – to ensure effective delivery from designing the complex to its long-term operation. The study also recommended that the project be financially supported by a combination of government and private financing in order to maximize efficiency and innovation. The stadium will have a retractable roof and a capacity of 50,000 for international sports and entertainment events. The facilities were proposed to be completed by 2020.^[11]

HK$62.7 million in pre-construction funds for the Kai Tak Multi-purpose Sports Complex was approved by the Legislative Council Finance Committee members on 3 July 2015.^[12]

On 23 June 2017, the Hong Kong legislators in the finance committee granted cash for the HK$31.9 billion sports complex in Kai Tak after a six-hour debate. 36 lawmakers green-lit the sports park, with 21 voting against it.^[13]

On 28 December 2018, the government announced that the contract for the design, construction and operation of the Kai Tak Sports Park would be handed over to Kai Tak Sports Park Limited, a subsidiary of New World Development and NWS Holdings established specifically for the project.^[14]At the time, the Commissioner for Sports was Yang Deqiang.^[15]

The groundbreaking ceremony of the Kai Tak Sports Park was held on 23 April 2019.^[4]

Kai Tak Sports Park is designed around a covered Kai Tak Sports Avenue, an indoor and outdoor pedestrian walkway starting at the Station Square (the connection to the park linking new MTR stops Kai Tak station and Sung Wong Toi station) and takes people all the way to the Dining Cove overlooking the Victoria Harbourfront.^[5]

The main stadium has flexible pitch system which can be switched between natural turf for premier football or rugby events, to other surfaces for a variety of sports, entertainment, and community events.^[16][17] The facility has been designed to meet the standards of major international events with customisable staging and seating configurations that cater to various events and crowd sizes.^[18]

The sports park's Indoor Sports Center provides a large multi-purpose space with retractable seating to host major competitions or events of up to 10,000 seats and to accommodate sports courts for community use.^[2] A 5,000 seat Public Sports Ground is also provided for hosting school athletic events, athletic training and local league games.^[2]

Other facilities include more than 8 hectares of open spaces,^[17] outdoor ball courts, a children's playground, a health and wellness center, a bowling center and retail and dining outlets.^[2] An event village will also be built to house international athletes visiting from other regions and countries.^[18]

The sports park is accessible from the Kai Tak station and the Sung Wong Toi station on the Tuen Ma line, as well as to the Kowloon City Ferry Pier, Central Kowloon Route and many neighbouring bus stops.

Kai Tak Sports Park's project team members include Hip Hing Engineering, Populous, ASM Global and Lagardère Sports and Entertainment.^[19] Hip Hing Engineering is the main contractor of the project supported by Populous, Robert Bird Group, SKA, ADI Limited, and Arup as design team.

The government has imposed strict performance indicators for the Kai Tak Sports Park with a penalty of HK$500,000 for every day if the operator fails to meet usage requirements in the main stadium, HK$100,000 for the indoor centre and HK$50,000 for the public ground accordingly.^[20] The time for operational acceptance is 1,640 days (54 months) from the commencement of the contract (1 February 2019). This means that the park should be finished by June 2023.^[14]

In June 2022, the Commissioner for Sports, Yeung Tak-keung, blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for the delay in opening dates to 2024, saying suppliers had faced difficulties in shipping construction materials to the territory, he added that the contractor won't be penalised for the delay, as no one could have foreseen the COVID-19 pandemic when the contract was signed in 2019.^[6]

• Kai Tak Airport
• Kai Tak Development
• Kowloon Walled City
• Lion Rock
• Lung Tsun Stone Bridge
• Sport in Hong Kong