Jeonju Gymnasium is an

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

Jeonju Jeonju () is the 16th largest city in South Korea and the capital of North Jeolla Province. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many residents who work in Jeonju) ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. It is the home arena of the

Jeonju KCC Egis The Jeonju KCC Egis is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League. Current roster Enlisted players Honours Domestic Korean Basketball League *KBL Championship :: Winners (5): 1997–98, 1998– ...

of the

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League (KBL; ) is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular season. H ...

(KBL).

History

The construction of Jeonju Gymnasium began on 10 November 1969, and lasted for three years and four months, with total costs amounting to

₩ The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean won. Appearance Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike going through the cent ...

246,497,000. Its opening ceremony was held on 30 March 1973, and included a basketball match between long-time rivals

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

and

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the "SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in the ...

, both based in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, in which Yonsei lost with a score of 58–66. Significant remodelling and modernisation work was carried out prior to the

2011–12 KBL season The 2011–12 KB Kookmin Card Professional Basketball season was the 16th season of the Korean Basketball League. Regular season Playoffs Prize money *Wonju Dongbu Promy: KRW 100,000,000 (regular-season 1st place) *Anyang KGC: KRW 50,00 ...

, at cost of roughly ₩400 million. Major upgrades included the installation of large

high-definition television High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

screens and improvements to the lighting systems. The arena floor has an area of . The

flooring Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface ...

material was originally

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

wood, but it was replaced in 2013 with palmate maple. Jeonju Gymnasium is the only large-scale indoor sports arena in the city, though there have been multiple proposals to build a second one. Despite the remodelling, public perceptions of safety issues in the gymnasium have persisted. There have also been capacity issues, with the team having to put up 300 extra chairs during the playoffs. These considerations led Egis owner KCC Corporation to consider a 2016 proposal to move the team to

Suwon Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a populati ...

where they could enjoy the use of a newly-constructed stadium. In the end, pledges by Jeonju mayor to build a new gymnasium or further remodel the existing one kept the team in Jeonju.

References

Basketball venues in South Korea Indoor arenas in South Korea Jeonju KCC Egis 1973 establishments in South Korea {{SouthKorea-sports-venue-stub