Former Site of the Central Stadium

Former Site of the Central Stadium

The former site of the Central Stadium is a cultural heritage conservation unit of Jiangsu Province.

The former site of the Central Stadium is located at Dazhemen in Xuanwu District, now within the Nanjing Sport Institute in Xiaolingwei.

This project was one of the largest nationwide at the time. It included venues for track and field, swimming, basketball, tennis, martial arts, and horse racing. Most were designed in 1931 and completed in 1933, with the design by Kwan, Chu and Yang Architects and construction by Liyuan Construction Company. The main structure, the track and field stadium, features a reinforced concrete structure with a cement exterior finish and is characterized by ethnic-style decorative details. The entrances and exits of other venues adopt the form of traditional Chinese archways.

In 1930, after the Fourth National Games held in Hangzhou, Chiang Kai-shek proposed building a large-scale Central Stadium in Nanjing as a venue for future National Games. In April of the same year, the Nationalist Government established a preparatory committee to organize the 1931 October National Games. The committee planned to build a stadium, and by decision of the State Council, a 1,200-acre plot of land south of Linggu Temple within the Zhongshan Mausoleum grounds was designated as the site for the National Games stadium—this later became the Central Stadium.

The track and field stadium was the main structure of the Central Stadium, located in the southeastern part of the complex, and was the largest of its kind in the country at the time. The stadium has an oval layout, running from north to south, covering an area of about 77 acres. The surrounding area consists of stands, with the track and field area in the center. Basketball and tennis courts were situated at the northern and southern ends of the track. Inside the inner lane of the track was a standard football pitch, along with areas for high jump, long jump, and throwing events. At both ends of the track, there were additional courts for tennis, volleyball, and basketball, allowing finals for various sports to be held simultaneously within the venue. Tall flagpoles, several zhang high, were placed at both the northern and southern ends of the venue for hoisting the national flag. The stadium had a complete drainage system. The stands around the venue could accommodate over 35,000 spectators.

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Heritage Conservation Units

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Heritage Conservation Units