The Cheongju baseball stadium, which has been used as Korean pro baseball team Hanwha Eagles’s second home, finished major remodeling on July 15th. The Cheongju baseball stadium construction, which started in June in 2012, was completed after a year and cost 4.2 billion won. The Cheongju baseball stadium can allow more spectators, and new stands increased fans’ convenience after this remodeling.
  The Cheongju baseball stadium, which opened in 1979 Sajik-dong, had had 10,000 seats and natural grass. However, because of seat construction in 2008, the stands lessened to 7,500, so the number of persons to be accommodated decreased. But after this remodeling, the stands increased again to 10,500.
  This remodeling changed not only the number of seats but also the kinds of stands. It made room which people can use more conveniently. Excitingly, for example, families can use family rooms equipped with tables and outlets. Couple stands where couples can watch a game with quality time were created using the room at the top of the stairs. In addition, children’s seats, a barbecue zone, and a store in the stadium increased convenience. Also, the pitchers’ bullpen was placed underground so 2,000 more seats could be added as the new exciting zone, which can show games more lively than normal seats and uses space more efficiently.
  Furthermore, the field which the baseball players play was improved. Previously, the old grounds and the natural grass which drained badly when it rained caused a lot of problems. In order to resolve these problems, natural grass was replaced with artificial grass and drains were installed. Kwon Myeong-gu(26, Sachang-dong), who visited the Cheongju baseball stadium after the remodeling, said, “I felt more comfortable than before because convenient facilities were increased. I had to buy tickets in advance with the application Ticketlink, and that was so confusing, but now it has seating charts so it’s easy to recognize.”
  However, on July 13th, Cheongju Hamyeowul Disabled Independence Life Center inspected the facilities for the disabled after the remodeling. This remodeling was criticized as the facilities for the disabled were too insufficient unlike facilities for people without disabilities. Therefore, improvement seems to be needed for this part. Except for that problem, this remodeling generally seems to receive favorable evaluations.
 

By Kyeong So-hyeon l sh34@cbnu.ac.kr