Today we visit Reykjavík, Iceland and their classic Laugardalsholl Sport Centre!
History:
Laugardalshöll is a multi-purpose sports and exhibition venue located in Reykjavík, Iceland, within the Laugardalur district. It comprises two main venues: a sports hall and an indoor arena for track and field events. Opened on December 4, 1965, the venue hosts various sporting events, including handball, basketball, volleyball, and athletics, as well as concerts and other events. The main hall has a seating capacity of 2,300 for basketball and handball and up to 5,500 for concerts with standing room. Laugardalshöll was Iceland's largest concert venue for decades, capable of hosting up to 10,000 standing spectators in its athletics center, Frjálsíþróttahöllin. The venue has been home to Iceland's national basketball and handball teams. The building was designed by architects Gísli Halldórsson and Skarphéðinn Jóhannsson, with construction beginning in August 1959. However, financial difficulties and union strikes delayed progress. After several interruptions, the venue was completed in 1965, with the inaugural event being a handball match between Reykjavík’s team and Czech team HCB Karviná.
The venue was expanded in 1995 to accommodate 5,500 spectators for the World Men’s Handball Championship. A further extension, built in 2005, added a 200-meter running track. Between 2022 and 2023, the venue underwent significant renovations, including new parquet flooring, updated seating, lighting, and sound systems. In 2017, a feasibility study was conducted for building a new sports hall to replace Laugardalshöll, which no longer meets modern international standards for basketball and handball competitions. Several issues were identified, such as insufficient floor space and limited access for media and spectators. In 2020, the Icelandic government initiated proposals for a new national indoor sports stadium. By 2022, it was proposed that the new venue should have a seating capacity of 5,000 to 8,600, expandable to 12,000 for concerts. Estimated costs for the project ranged from 7.9 billion ISK for the smaller venue to 8.7 billion ISK for the larger option.
In 2023, the cost estimate for the new venue was revised to 14.2 billion ISK, with plans for an 8,600-seat arena. Construction was delayed, with completion now expected between 2027 and 2028. The venue is anticipated to host international events, including potential matches of the World Men’s Handball Championship in 2029 or 2031 as part of a joint bid with Denmark and Norway. Laugardalshöll has hosted numerous notable events, including the 1972 World Chess Championship between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, which was dubbed the "Match of the Century." It has also been a venue for the 1995 World Men’s Handball Championship and several important matches of the Icelandic men's national handball team. Additionally, the arena has hosted non-sporting events, such as the 2009 National Assembly, which was a key part of Iceland's constitutional reform process. It has also been the venue for various entertainment events, including CCP Games’ EVE Online Fanfest, the Icelandic preliminary rounds for the Eurovision Song Contest, and esports tournaments like the 2021 League of Legends World Championship and Riot Games' Mid-Season Invitational and Valorant Masters.
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Music
Song: Stardriver
Artist: ELFL
Courtesy Of: www.epidemicsound.com
Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laugardalsh%C3%B6ll