Boris Trajkovski Sports Center

Boris Trajkovski Sports Center

Former names	Boris Trajkovski Sports Hall[1]
Location	Skopje, Macedonia
Owner	City of Skopje
Operator	SC Boris Trajkovski
Capacity	8,000 (6000 fixed + 2000 removable seats)[2]
Construction
Broke ground	June 2004
Opened	22 May 2008
Construction cost	€ 17 million
Architect	Mavrovoproekt

The Boris Trajkovski Sports Center (Macedonian: Спортски центар Борис Трајковски, Sportski centar Boris Trajkovski) in Skopje is a multi-functional indoor sports arena. It is located in the Karpoš Municipality of Skopje, Macedonia. It is named after the former president, Boris Trajkovski, who died in a plane crash in 2004. It has a maximum seating capacity of 6,000 for handball, 8,000 for basketball and 10,000 for concerts. The arena is home to the Macedonian national basketball team (men and women), Macedonian national handball team (men and women) and Macedonian national volleyball team (men and women). The venue also contains four restaurants and a sports bar. It was one of two venues used for the 2008 European Women's Handball Championship.

History

Construction began in June 2004 with the city of Skopje as the main investor. It was introduced as one of the capital projects of former mayor Risto Penov. The initial term set by the city authorities for the completion was one year, but it was repeatedly set back by problems during construction. At the beginning, while digging the foundation, underground water broke and the whole site was flooded. This brought additional costs of around one million euros, on several occasions the city coffers remained low, which at times led to stoppage of the resumption of the construction work. Upon arrival by Trifun Kostovski as mayor, the city began negotiations with the government to hand over the facility in their jurisdiction. Negotiations were conducted with the previous government but had ended unsuccessfully. In February 2007, the government signed an agreement for the handover. A joint stock company "Boris Trajkovski" was established to manage the facility, with each investor receiving an appropriate number of shares by the money they invested for the final construction. The Harlem Globetrotters, were first to perform at the arena following the opening ceremony on 22 May 2008.^[3] In 2011, prime minister Nikola Gruevski opened a hockey rink and karting track. The government had funded most of the investment, which was worth 430,000 euros.^[4] From 18 to 20 May 2012, the arena hosted the 20th edition of the Macedonian Handball Cup.^[5]

Gallery

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  View from the side

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  The eastern side of the Boris Trajkovski Sports Center

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  The northern side of the Boris Trajkovski Sports Center

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  A big Macedonian flag

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  Macedonia basketball team prior to a match at the Boris Trajkovski Sports Center

Held and scheduled events

1. REDIRECT List of events held in Boris Trajkovski Sports Center

Scheduled events

Date	Event ǃǃ Type	Note
October 30, 2015	Đorđe Balašević	Concert
June 06, 2015	Parni Valjak	Concert
June 1, 2015	One Republic	Concert
June 20, 2016	Enrique Iglesias	Concert
November 13, 2016	Jean-Michel Jarre	Concert

References

1. Boris Trajkovski Sports Hall Archived August 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.. European Handball Federation.
2. Boris Trajkovski Sports Hall-Capacity Archived September 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.. European Handball Federation.
3. Спортска сала "Борис Трајковски"
4. Skopje gets Hockey Rink .MINA.
5. Vardar Pro wins the Macedonian Cup

External links

• Official Website (Macedonian)
• Boris Trajkovski Sports Center on Facebook
• Boris Trajkovski Sports Center on Twitter
  

Coordinates: 42°00′35″N 21°24′14″E / 42.0098°N 21.4039°E