Yeni Çorum Stadyumu – design description

The story of new stadium in Çorum (Northern Anatolia) dates back to 2014, when the design of Istanbul-based Bahadir Kul Architects was revealed for the city's new sporting project. Unlike many other stadia in Turkey, this one was commissioned by the city itself, only to be transferred to central authorities once complete.

Construction of a new stadium further from the city centre was supposed to release land occupied by the old Dr. Turhan Kılıçcıoğlu Stadyumu. This would allow the sale and return on at least part of the pubic project, with a congress centre planned on the ground's site.

The new stadium's location wasn't surprising, land along the Samsun-Ankara highway south of the city was earmarked, to replace amateur sporting facilities. It's the most rapidly developing part of Çorum, where 9 hectares were set aside for the stadium. Itself, the venue occupies 2.62 hectare, while the remainder is used to create 1,061 parking places (+25 for disabled fans).

Conceptually, the 15,000-seater stadium is simple and modern. Though the sporting status of Çorumspor is a complex story (two clubs exist now, new one named Çorum FK, the historical one being amateur), Bahadir Kul Architects opted for the club colours red and black to serve as primary inspiration and point of reference. Covered primarily with metal sheet, the bowl has a dominant main stand and – as counterweight on the east side – amplified corners.

The auditorium creates a continuous single ring around the field, only seeing two floors of additional facilities atop the west stand, which is why that stand's height is noticably bigger. With 15,000 seats in total, the stadium is to offer room for nearly 1 in 10 residents of the city, roughly 2,500 of whom could use premium seating.

Construction was officially launched in April of 2016, with the intention of delivery in July of 2018. However, with insufficient municipal funding, the contractor was forced to slow down or stop at times. As a result, only in late 2019 the building was structurally ready. But even then seats had to be replaced by new ones, while landscaping and infrastructural work around the stadium lasted until mid-2020. On June 15 work has been delivered, while on June 29 the Ministry of Youth and Sports took control of the stadium.

Initial construction deal betweem Çorum and contractor Çakır İnşaat was just under TRY 60 million. However, this proved significantly underestimated in the long run. The city was thus forced to seek alternative solutions, like offering the contractor lucrative plots of land within the city as partial payment. Eventually, the project was also bailed out by the state lottery. According to the Anadolu Agency, total cost of the project has reached 160 million.