It is "unclear" whether South Korea's first domed stadium under construction in southwestern Seoul will become a "new cathedral for baseball fans here or a white elephant," according to Nam Hyun-woo of the KOREA TIMES. The stadium, dubbed the "Gocheok Dome" for the time being, is a six-story facility on a 47,800-square-meter site in Gocheok-dong, Guro, which will accommodate more than 18,000 spectators. According to Hyundai Development Company, construction will be completed in August, "with the exterior work finished in two to three months." Since it broke ground in '08, "expectations were high that Korea would have a domed stadium like the Tokyo Dome in Japan." At the same time, however, the question of "who will use the massive facility remains unanswered." Korea Baseball Organization club Nexen Heroes expressed interest but the other Seoul-based KBO clubs -- the LG Twins and Doosan Bears -- showed no interest. A Seoul official said, "We hope to bring in the Nexen Heroes to the stadium after negotiations. The two sides are still negotiating because the Heroes want more favorable terms, while the local government wants to use the stadium for public purposes such as holding concerts because it was built with taxpayers' money" (KOREA TIMES, 1/28).
