The Ghelamco Arena (also called Arteveldestadion) is a multi-use

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It hosts the home matches of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club

K.A.A. Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (, English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Ghent or by their nickname ' ( en, The Buffalos), is a Belgian sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football ...

and was officially opened on 17 July 2013, making it the first newly-built Belgian football stadium since 1974. The stadium seats 20,000 and replaced the

Jules Ottenstadion Jules Ottenstadion was a multi-purpose stadium in Gentbrugge, Ghent, Belgium. It was used mostly for football matches and used to be the home ground of K.A.A. Gent. The stadium held 12,919 seats and was built in 1920. It was replaced as the clu ...

, which had been Gent's home since 1920. The stadium hosted its first competitive match on 4 August 2013, when Gent won 2-1 over KV Mechelen.

History

Construction

On 12 May 2003 then-alderman of Ghent Daniël Termont announced that as from the season 2006/07 the new stadium of KAA Gent would be situated on the site of the Groothandelsmarkt (''Trade Market''), near the R4 and the Ringvaart and close to the E17 and E40 motorways. The stadium would be given the name of ''Arteveldestadion'' (after

Jacob van Artevelde Jacob van Artevelde (; c. 1290 – 17 or 24 July 1345), sometimes written in English as James van Artvelde, also known as The Wise Man and the Brewer of Ghent, was a Flemish statesman and political leader. Biography Jacob Van Artevelde was bo ...

) and should help in the further growth of the team. Due to multiple problems, including issued building permits and financial difficulties, it would take until 18 September 2008 before the official foundation stone could be laid by meanwhile mayor Daniël Termont and president of KAA Gent Ivan De Witte. In 2009 new problems concerning the financing of the stadium became public. In June 2010, the city of Ghent announced that it had come to a definitive agreement with real estate developer Ghelamco about the construction and exploitation of the stadium. After approval of the adapted lease agreement in the city council, which was realized during the meeting of October 2010, the construction works were started immediately. They were scheduled to be finished before the start of the 2012–13 Belgian Pro League, but were delayed one more year. On 31 May 2013, a few months before the official opening, it was officially announced that the stadium would be named ''Ghelamco Arena'', after the constructor. The stadium was officially inaugurated on 17 July 2013 with and

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

(in which KAA Gent defeated

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

2-0) and a performance by 2manydjs.

Details

Mobility

The stadium counts with 1,200 parking spots, mainly for employees, security and safety services, members of the press, VIPs and disabled people. In addition, there are approximately 1,000 carpool spots for supporters within a radius of 1.2 kilometers around the stadium. Alternative ways of reaching the stadium can be found in public transport. On match days, shuttle buses drive between the arena and the Woodrow Wilson Square in the city centre. Bus lines 65 and 67 take people from the

Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station ( nl, Station Gent-Sint-Pieters, french: Gare de Gand-Saint-Pierre), officially Gent-Sint-Pieters, is the main railway station in Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium, and the fourth-busiest in Belgium and busiest in Fl ...

to the stadium.

Entertainment

Throughout the year, businesses can rent parts of the stadium to host a variety of events. During the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, all games of the

Belgium national football team The Belgium national football teamfrench: Équipe nationale belge de footballgerman: Belgische Fußballnationalmannschaft officially represents Belgium in men's international football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the ...

were shown on big screens, accompanied by performances of Belgian artists

Regi Penxten Regi Penxten (born Reginald Paul Stefan Penxten on 4 March 1976) is a Belgian DJ and record producer, of many eurodance and trance projects in Belgium, including Milk Inc. and Sylver. Better known by his mononym Regi, he has released three sol ...

Clouseau Inspector Jacques Clouseau (), later granted the rank of Chief Inspector, is a fictional character in Blake Edwards' farcical ''The Pink Panther'' series. He is portrayed by Peter Sellers in the original series, and also by Alan Arkin in the ...

, Natalia and Milk Inc.

Offices, retail and catering

Ghelamco Arena is the home base of real estate developer Ghelamco and houses an Albert Heijn store, an employment agency and a gym. It also houses Michelin star restaurant ''Horseele'', a bistro and a sandwich place, which are all open during the week.

Photo gallery

File:Ghelamcoarena00.jpg, Stadium by night File:Ghelamcoarena01.jpg, Dressing room File:Ghelamcoarena02.jpg, Players'

jacuzzi Jacuzzi Brands LLC (; ), through its subsidiaries, is a global manufacturer and distributor of branded baths, hot tubs, pools, saunas and, formerly, aircraft. Founded in 1915 by the Italian family of the same name, Jacuzzi is a federally regist ...

File:Ghelamcoarena03.jpg, Dugout File:Ghelamcoarena04.jpg, Interior File:Ghelamcoarena08.jpg, Main entrance interior File:Ghelamcoarena05.jpg,

Telenet Telenet was an American commercial packet-switched network which went into service in 1975. It was the first FCC-licensed public data network in the United States. Various commercial and government interests paid monthly fees for dedicated lines ...

stands File:Ghelamcoarena06.jpg,

VDK Spaarbank vdk bank, formerly VDK Spaarbank, is a Belgian commercial bank. Vdk bank is a Belgian ethical bank, of which the direct predecessor was founded in the bosom of the active workers' movement. The bank has been the principal commercial sponsor of th ...

stands File:Ghelamcoarena07.jpg, Ghelamco stands

References

External links

*
KAA Gent official website
*
The Blue Towers: offices in the Arteveldepark
{{coord, 51, 00, 58, N, 3, 44, 03, E, type:landmark_region:BE, display=title Sports venues completed in 2013 Multi-purpose stadiums in Belgium Football venues in Flanders Sports venues in East Flanders Sport in Ghent Buildings and structures in Ghent K.A.A. Gent