Hague Sports Campus in Zuiderpark

A unique Sports Campus will be created by the end of 2013 in The Hague’s Zuiderpark. Separate halls for professional sports, beach sports and gymnastics will be build on the spot of the former ADO stadium.

The Academy of Sports Studies at The Hague University (Haagse Hogeschool) and ROC Mondriaan will also join the new complex. The most up-to-date knowledge about sport will be provided through a partnership with the Delft University of Technology and VU University Amsterdam. The Municipality of The Hague, Vestia and The Hague University signed a covenant on 16 February to realise this ambitious plan.

According to Deputy Mayor Sander Dekker (Education, Youth and Sport), ‘The Sports Campus will become like the Papendal National Sport Centre (located in Arnhem) in the Randstad. It will set the standard for knowledge about sport. Professional and amateur athletes will have all kinds of possibilities to develop their talents.’

Optimal facilities

The hall for professional sports will feature a tribune for 3,500 spectators. The beach sport hall will have a hundred seats. There will be a multifunctional artificial grass pitch outside and the football fields will be renewed so that they can be used by an amateur football club. There will also be space for a sport hotel.

The design by architect Leon Thier and landscape architect Edwin Santhagens gives the Sports Campus a park-like layout, allowing the terrain of the former ADO stadium to harmonise better with the green character of Zuiderpark.

Cooperation

It will be possible to follow a sports education at both the vocational and professional level thanks to the presence of both the Academy of Sports Studies and the Mondriaan Onderwijsgroep Sport and Movement. Research and knowledge will get a prominent place at the Sports Campus through cooperation with partners from higher education (Delft University of Technology and VU University Amsterdam).

Development

As the project developer, Vestia will be charged with developing and realising the property. The municipality will become the owner and manager of the sport halls.

Planning

The memorandum will be presented to the Municipal Council in the second quarter of 2010 and the project document is expected to be ready in the fourth quarter. Construction is expected to start at the end of 2011 and be completed by the end of 2013.