Paljor Stadium
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 View of the stadium | |
 Interactive map of Paljor Stadium | |
| Location | Gangtok, Sikkim |
|---|---|
| Owner | Sikkim Football Association |
| Capacity | 30,000[1] |
| Field size | 104 m × 65 m (114 yd × 71 yd) |
| Surface | Artificial turf |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1939 |
| Opened | 1943 |
| Renovated | 2022 |
| Expanded | April 2001– September 2005 |
| Tenants | |
| SFA A-Division S-League[2] Sikkim Premier League Sikkim B Division Sikkim C Division Sikkim Gold Cup Independence Cup Sikkim Women's Super League Sikkim football team Sikkim women's football team | |
Paljor Stadium is a football stadium located in Gangtok,[3][4] Sikkim, India.[5][6][7][8][9] It can host 30,000 spectators. Besides earlier hosting the I-League and the I-League 2, the stadium also hosts matches of various local divisions and tournaments.[10][11][12]
Foundation
Chogyal nicknamed the stadium around 1943 because Britishers and a few members of the aristocratic family of Sikkim played at the Polo Ground. The old timers recall this flat piece of land being used by the Tibetan traders to station their herds of sheep en route to Sikkim and India. Around 1939 one of the political officers, Sir Basil Gould had sanctioned Rs.3000 (approx $75.2634) to the forest department and ordered that the grass demonstration farm be set up there. The whole task was completed in April 1941. Later Paljor Stadium proved to be a major venue of all public meetings, including those of Prime ministers and religious leaders.
Renovation
It was on 24 July 1998 that a High power state committee constituted by the government took a decision to upgrade and renovate the existing Paljor Stadium. The project of redesigning and modernizing cost was around ₹ 30 Crores, out of which ₹ 15.36 Crores was from DONER contribution and remaining from the State coffer. The actual work started off in 2001. The modern look of the stadium was designed by M/S Architect Consultant Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata and its execution was assigned to Civil Engineers Enterprise Ltd. Kolkata. Initially the project was scheduled to be completed by March 2004, but owning the additional work the date was shifted to April 2005.
