Jeonju Gymnasium is an

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

Jeonju Jeonju (, , ) is the capital and List of cities in South Korea, largest city of North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many resi ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. It was the home arena of the

Jeonju KCC Egis The Busan KCC Egis () is a professional basketball club based in Busan, South Korea. The team competes in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) and has established a substantial fanbase in South Korea. Founded in 1997, the team was initially based i ...

of the

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League () or simply KBL is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular s ...

(KBL) prior to their move to Busan in 2023.

History

Jeonju Gymnasium is located on land owned by the nearby

Jeonbuk National University Jeonbuk National University (JBNU; ) is one of ten Flagship Korean National Universities founded in 1947, located in Jeonju, South Korea. Jeonbuk National University has been ranked 551–560th in the world by QS Top Universities Ranking in 2023 ...

. The construction of Jeonju Gymnasium began on 10 November 1969, and lasted for three years and four months, with total costs amounting to

₩ The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean Empire won, Korean won. Appearance Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike ...

246,497,000. Its opening ceremony was held on 30 March 1973, and included a basketball match between long-time rivals

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905 by Yi Yong-ik, Lee Yong-Ik, a prominent official of the Korean Empire, Korea University is among South Korea's oldest List of ...

and

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

, both based in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, in which Yonsei lost with a score of 58–66. Significant remodelling and modernisation work was carried out prior to the 2011–12 KBL season, at cost of roughly ₩400 million. Major upgrades included the installation of large

high-definition television High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...

screens and improvements to the lighting systems. The arena floor has an area of . The

flooring Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface. ...

material was originally

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

wood, but it was replaced in 2013 with palmate maple. During its existence, Jeonju Gymnasium was the only large-scale indoor sports arena in the city, though there were multiple proposals to build a second one. Despite the remodelling, public perceptions of safety issues in the gymnasium persisted. There were also capacity issues, with the team having to put up 300 extra chairs during the playoffs. These considerations led Egis owner

KCC Corporation KCC Corporation (renamed from Kumkang Korea Chemicals Co., Ltd. in 2005) is a South Korean chemical and auto parts manufacturer, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Operations KCC's products include various kinds of paints, float glass, soft spo ...

to consider a 2016 proposal to move the team to

Suwon Suwon (; ) is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province. The city lies approximately south of the national capital, Seoul. With a population of 1.2 million, Suwon has more inhabitants than Ulsan, tho ...

where they could enjoy the use of a newly-constructed stadium. Pledges by Jeonju mayor to build a new gymnasium or further remodel the existing one kept the team in Jeonju for the time being. However, Jeonbuk University announced plans to demolish the Jeonju Gymnasium to make way for the construction of a

science park A science park (also called a "university research park", "technology park", "technopark", "technopolis", "technopole", or a "science and technology park" TP is defined as being a property-based development that accommodates and fosters ...

, leading to Egis' decision to move to Busan in 2023. Construction of a new stadium to replace Jeonju Gynmasium began in 2024 at a site in ,

Deokjin District Deokjin District () is a non-autonomous district of Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, South Korea. Administrative divisions Deokjin District is divided into 15 neighborhoods (''dong''). See also * Wansan District Wansan District () is a non- ...

References

Basketball venues in South Korea Indoor arenas in South Korea Busan KCC Egis 1973 establishments in South Korea Buildings and structures in Jeonju Sport in Jeonju {{SouthKorea-sports-venue-stub