Skenderija

Coordinates: 43°51′14.72″N 18°24′46.95″E / 43.8540889°N 18.4130417°E / 43.8540889; 18.4130417

Skenderija

Skenderija is a city center in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was constructed in 1969 as a cultural and sport center, but was later revitalized and expanded for the 1984 Winter Olympic Games. Below the structure is a shopping mall. It sustained minor damage during the war but because of lack of up-keep is decaying, it is revitalized since 2007. On February 12th, after a record snowfall in Sarajevo, the roof of one of the halls fell in making that building unusable. The damage after this is said to be 'huge' and is yet unknown if that building will be rebuilt. ^[1]

History

Due to a lack of an exhibition and sports-centre within the fast expanding city of Sarajevo of the late 1960s, the city-community planned to build the new Skenderija-centre. It was opened on November 29, 1969 by hosting the première of the Movie "Battle of Neretva". The name Skenderija, which means "Skender's place", comes from the famous Bosnian bay Sandžak beg Skender paša, who build the first trading-centre with 11 shops and the first Muslim monastery of Bosnia from 1499. Soon the Skenderija was a well known and widely used centre for several cultural events of the former Yugoslavia. One part of the Skenderija is a youth club called "Dom mladih". Before the war, this was one of the modernist and most western styled clubs of Yugoslavia. It was a very popular place among young people, and big stars of Balkan pop-music, like Dino Merlin, had started their career here. Also a big shopping-mall is included in the centre, called "Privredni grad".

In 1977, when Sarajevo was voted to host the 1984 Winter Olympics, they discovered that they needed more than only the brand-new building Zetra to host every figure skating and ice hockey event. So they started to reconstruct and expand the Skenderija into a real state-of-the-art ice-sports centre. It was also chosen as the centre for the representatives and press-reporters.^[2]

In 1992, when the war started, the Skenderija was set under shell-fire. The main structure of the building survived without major damage, but the youth-centre was burned out and made unusable.

After the war, there was no need for the centre and it slowly went into disrepair. But in 1999, the city-government of Sarajevo wished to have an exhibition-hall to build up a new economy and trade in Bosnia and Herzegovina. So they rebuilt the Skenderija slowly from 2000 to 2006. It was financed by many private companies, so it is under the ownership of these private bodies. However it now has all of the old functions restored and is back in service today. It is estimated to have over 500,000 Visitors each year.

In February of 2012 the Ice hall centre's roof collapsed under the weight of heavy snow fall. The roof was designed to sustain to 100 kg per square meter, while the weight of snow was about 160 kg per square meter.^[3]

References

See also

Official website

v t e Olympic venues in figure skating 1908: Prince's Skating Club 1920: Palais de Glace d'Anvers 1924: Stade Olympique de Chamonix 1928: St. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink 1932: Olympic Arena 1936: Olympia-Kunsteisstadion 1948: Olympic Stadium 1952: Bislett stadion 1956: Stadio Olimpico Del Ghiaccio 1960: Blyth Arena 1964: Olympiahalle 1968: Le Stade de Glace 1972: Makomanai Ice Arena (final), Mikaho Indoor Skating Rink 1976: Olympiahalle 1980: Olympic Center 1984: Skenderija II Hall, Zetra Ice Hall 1988: Olympic Saddledome (final), Stampede Corral 1992: La halle de glace Olympique 1994: Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre 1998: White Ring 2002: Salt Lake Ice Center 2006: Palavela 2010: Pacific Coliseum 2014: Iceberg Skating Palace 2018: Gyeongpo Ice Hall NOTE: During the Olympic Games, venues that have naming rights sold may not use their name during the Olympic Games.

v t e Olympic venues in ice hockey 1920: Palais de Glace d'Anvers 1924: Stade Olympique de Chamonix 1928: St. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink 1932: Olympic Arena (final), Olympic Stadium 1936: Olympia-Kunsteisstadion (final), Riessersee 1948: Kulm, Olympic Stadium (final), Suvretta 1952: Dæhlenenga, Jordal Amfi (final), Kadettangen, Lillestrøm stadion, Marienlyst stadion 1956: Apollonio Stadium, Stadio Olimpico Del Ghiaccio 1960: Blyth Arena (final), Squaw Valley Olympic Skating Rink 1964: Messehalle, Olympiahalle 1968: La Patinoire Municipale, Le Stade de Glace 1972: Makomanai Ice Arena (final), Tsukisamu Indoor Skating Rink 1976: Messehalle, Olympiahalle (final) 1980: Olympic Center 1984: Skenderija II Hall, Zetra Ice Hall (final) 1988: Father David Bauer Olympic Arena, Olympic Saddledome (final), Stampede Corral 1992: Méribel Ice Palace 1994: Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall, Håkon Hall (final) 1998: Aqua Wing, Big Hat (final) 2002: E Center (final), Peaks Ice Arena 2006: Palasport Olimpico (final), Torino Esposizioni 2010: Rogers Arena (final), UBC Thunderbird Arena 2014: Bolshoy Ice Dome (final), Shayba Arena 2018: Union Hockey Centre (final), Kwandong University Arena NOTE: During the Olympic Games, venues that have naming rights sold may not use their name during the Olympic Games.

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