Kai Tak Sports Park is a multi-purpose sports venue to be built at the site of the former Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The location is on the north western part of the property, where some of the parking stands used to be. AECOM was engaged by the Civil Engineering and Development Department of HKSAR to undertake the Kai Tak Development project in early 2007. In the 2011-12 policy address delivered by Hong Kong Chief ExecutiveDonald Tsang, he stated that the government is studying financing options and mode of operation of the proposed multi-purpose stadium complex at Kai Tak and will start the preliminary work as soon as possible. South China Morning Post reported that the stadium would be completed by 2023, costing HK$32 billion and would have a 50,000 seat stadium with a retractable roof, an indoor sports centre with up to 10,000 seats and a 5,000-seat public sports ground.
Development
On 5 November 2012, the Home Affairs Bureau completed an initial technical feasibility study of the Kai Tak multi-purpose complex and submitted it to the Legislative Council. In the study, the bureau proposed a "design-build-operate" approach - design, construction, operations and maintenance under a single entity - to ensure effective delivery from designing the complex to its long-term operation. The study also recommended that the project be financially supported by a combination of government and private financing in order to maximize efficiency and innovation. The stadium will have a retractable roof and a capacity of 50,000 for international sports and entertainment events. The facilities are expected to be completed by 2020. HK$62.7 million in pre-construction funds for the Kai Tak Multi-purpose Sports Complex was approved by the Legislative Council Finance Committee members on 3 July 2015. On 23 June 2017, the Hong Kong legislators in the finance committee granted the cash for the HK$31.9 billion sports complex in Kai Tak after a six-hour debate. 36 lawmakers green-lit the sports park, with 21 voting against it. On December 28, 2018, the government announced a contract for the design, construction and operation of the Kai Tak Sports Park was awarded to Kai Tak Sports Park Ltd, a subsidiary of New World Development and NWS Holdings established specifically for the project. Hip Hing Engineering is the main contractor of the project supported by Populous, SKA and Arup as design team. The groundbreaking ceremony of the Kai Tak Sports Park was held on 23 April 2019.
Schedule and Penalties
The government has imposed strict performance indicators for the Kai Tak Sports Park with a penalty of HK$500,000 for every day if the operator fails to meet usage requirements in the main stadium, HK$100,000 for the indoor centre and HK$50,000 for the public ground accordingly. The time for operational acceptance is 1,640 days from the commencement of the contract. This means that the park should be finished by June, 2023.
