Hangzhou, China, August 7, 2020: The indoor stadium of Hangzhou Dianzi University in Qiantang New District is known by its students as the UFO due to its distinctive, space-age design.
With renovations well under way for the 19th Asian Games in September 2022, the university is sure the UFO will provide an out of this world experience when it hosts the fencing competition.
The UFO is one of 25 stadiums being remodeled for the 19th Asian Games and, prior to renovation, it hosted CBA pro basketball games and student badminton championships.
Zhang Qiaozhen, who is in charge of the renovation work, said the original stadium leaked water through the metal ceiling. This has resulted in major renovation work in a number of aspects of stadium maintenance and new pipelines are now being installed to upgrade all the services.
After the Asian Games, the stadium will continue to serve as the venue for PE classes, training, collective activities and performances, teaching, training, matches, grand events and workout activities of the university.
An outdoor running lane will be built around the stadium to encourage college students’ participation in the Asian Games, as the campus has a tradition of long-distance running, and the fence around the stadium will become a “promotion wall” for the history of fencing throughout the Asian Games.
Zhang explains: “The fence displays information about the stadium construction work and the matches of the Hangzhou Asian Games in the hope that our students can learn from it the spirit of sports competition and immerse themselves within the atmosphere of the Games.”
The ceiling is set to be installed by the end of this month and the whole renovation project is due to be completed and delivered by the end of March 2021.
Hangzhou Dianzi University was founded in 1956 and is one of the top five universities in Zhejiang Province with 25,000 students and 2,300 staff.