KL Sports City on track to completion National

The Bukit Jalil National Stadium facade which will feature LED lights.

Kuala Lumpur Sports City project’s first phase is 30% completed and is on schedule, Stadium Malaysia Corporation chief executive officer Azman Fahmi Osman said.

Phase 1 is scheduled to finish by middle of July next year, in time for the 2017 SEA Games to be hosted by Kuala Lumpur.

“We want to transform the Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex into Kuala Lumpur Sports City and make it a world-class sports facility,” he said during a press conference at the site.

He added that the sports complex had not undergone major refurbishment since 1998.

It was reported that during the first phase, in addition to regenerating the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, upgrading works would be carried out on Stadium Putra, the National Aquatic Centre and the National Hockey Stadium.

The upgrade also involves improving integration with public transportation links and expanding pedestrian access across the site.

There will also be public jogging and cycling tracks.

“The whole idea is for people to utilise the space day and night. The public can even have picnics here on the weekends,” Azman said.

He said Phase 2 was expected to commence in early 2018.

“We expect to complete the whole project by 2021,” he added.

This second phase will see the creation of Kuala Lumpur Sports City – a fully-integrated sports hub that will consist of new, world-class infrastructure including high-performance sports training facilities, a sports rehabilitation science centre, youth park, public sports facilities, sports museum, youth hostel, convention centre and a sports-focused retail mall.

Also present was Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) general manager S. Nalgunalingam, who briefed the media on the progress of the project.

Azman said it would include changing the facade of the Bukit Jalil National Stadium through the installation of 600 blades with LED lights.

“We can play around with the colours according to the event, including projections of our national flag or Harimau Malaya stripes,” he said.