The Palace of Sports is an indoor sport-concert complex situated in the center of Kiev, Ukraine. The complex is an independent state enterprise.
History
It was built between 1958–1960, to design of Mykhailo Hrechyna and Oleksiy Zavarov, as a major indoor sports arena and was opened on 9 December 1960. Constructivism Architecture, an artistic movement sporting mostly simple geometric forms was used in the design. In the first 50 years, the Sports Palace was the venue for 16 world championships, 28 European championships, 42 championships of the USSR and more than 4,000 concerts and theatre shows as stage performances. In addition, there were around 400 exhibitions and fairs. The events attracted more than 24 million visitors.
Renovations
In 1980–1982, the Palace of Sport was reconstructed. The lighting and technical facilities were almost completely modernized, the interiors and halls were expanded and otherwise illuminated, the palace was equipped with numerous changing rooms and sideboards. The Palace of Sports was confirmed by officials as the host venue for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in September 2004. However, in order to host the contest, the facilities had been brought up to the standard required by the European Broadcasting Union. At the end of December 2004, work began on the renovation of the hall, for which approximately 4 million francs were allocated. Renovation works were to be finished by 20 April, however, they were completed at the beginning of May. The arena could accommodate over 5,000 seated spectators. Additionally 2,000 press delegates were catered for. A further reconstruction took place from October 2010 in preparation to host matches for the 2011 IIHF World Championship Division I. As part of the reconstruction, the backstage space was completely re-equipped, six sportslocker rooms were installed, the hall lighting was modernized, and the ventilation, air-conditioning, heating and fire safety systems were completely replaced. In addition, a modern quadrilateral display appeared above the arena. In the stands, plastic seats were installed in the colors of the national flag: the total number of seats is 6,900 for sporting events, increased to 9,800 when in concert-mode.
Events
The venue hosts indoor sports games, concerts, major exhibitions and trade fairs.
It hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, which required the facilities to be brought up to the standard, required by the European Broadcasting Union. Four years later, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was hosted in the venue. It is the only venue to have hosted both the junior and adult versions of the song contest.
