Proposal to relocate Can Tho Stadium to O Mon

The Can Tho City Department of Construction has proposed relocating the Can Tho Stadium – once the largest stadium in Vietnam – to the former O Mon district. This plan aims to utilize the valuable land in the city center.

Can Tho Stadium, with a capacity of up to 50,000 people, features a unique design with a curved shape resembling a bowl, making it one of the five largest stadiums in Vietnam. Photo: Phan Tuan Anh/TTXVN

Accordingly, the Department of Construction recommends that the City People's Committee consider the policy of relocating the Can Tho Stadium and the City Sports Center to Sub-zone 17 of the regional urban sub-region for health, education , culture, and sports (formerly O Mon District).

Mr. Le Tien Dung, Deputy Director of the Can Tho City Department of Construction, stated that the stadium and sports center in Cai Khe ward currently host very few activities. Meanwhile, the city lacks a free trade zone and economic zone. Relocating the stadium and sports center is a reasonable solution, creating an attractive complex to attract investment.

In recent years, the stadium has only hosted one or two events per year, mainly motorcycle races. This prime piece of land in the city center remains vacant year-round, resulting in a waste of resources. To attract investors, the city needs to create a clean land fund, ideally in the city center, making it easier to invite businesses to participate.

Located on the banks of the Hau River, on Le Loi Street, Can Tho Stadium is one of the city's iconic sports facilities. It was once known as the largest stadium in Vietnam, with a capacity of approximately 50,000 seats, surpassing My Dinh Stadium. The stands are designed in a bowl shape, with a green exterior and a 6-meter-wide curved walkway for convenient spectator movement.

In 2019, the stadium was renovated, with plastic seats installed in stands B, C, and D, reducing its capacity to approximately 30,000 people. Although it once met the standards for hosting major events, it has not hosted professional football matches for a long time.

After the Can Tho Football Club disbanded, no team has registered to play at the stadium since 2023. The scoreboard is old, many facilities lack maintenance, and the stadium hardly hosts any international sporting events anymore. The last time the Vietnamese national team played here was in 2016.

Besides football, the stadium occasionally hosts motorcycle races, but very infrequently. Deteriorating infrastructure and inefficient operation are making the facility increasingly wasteful.

According to the Department of Construction, the current location of the stadium in Cai Khe ward is prime real estate in the heart of Can Tho city. However, this land has not been effectively utilized due to its mismatched intended use. Relocating the stadium to Subdivision 17 will help restructure the urban space, freeing up central land for the development of high-quality commercial, service, healthcare, and sports facilities, meeting new development needs.

In December 2023, the People's Committee of the former Can Tho City announced a list of 56 investment projects for the 2023-2025 period, with a vision to 2030. Among them, project number 51 involved upgrading and renovating the Can Tho Stadium into a complex of services, healthcare, and sports facilities, covering an area of ​​approximately 6.5 hectares. However, given the stadium's inefficient use, the option of relocating and redeveloping the land was deemed more feasible in the long term.

With the above proposal, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, Truong Canh Tuyen, requested the Department of Construction to coordinate with relevant units to carefully assess and harmonize the needs of urban development and sports activities, ensuring compliance with the city's overall planning. Can Tho City is currently continuing to gather opinions from relevant parties and finalize the plan to ensure feasibility and long-term effectiveness in land use.

From an expert's perspective, Dr. Tran Huu Hiep – an economic expert – believes that Can Tho Stadium is not just a purely sporting facility but also a cultural space, a place deeply connected to the memories of many generations. The relocation needs a scientific basis, survey results, and a comprehensive impact assessment, which the current proposal from the Department of Construction lacks clarity on.

Relocating such a significant project to Subdivision 17, 20 km from the city center, requires clear and convincing answers to questions about transportation infrastructure, supporting services, and especially the actual flow of users, before a decision can be made. Otherwise, this costly project will soon become a "concrete oasis."

This expert also raised the issue that economic value needs to be viewed in the long term, linked to public welfare and spiritual values. Modern urban development must harmonize commerce, culture, and community life, and cannot sacrifice public space for short-term revenue.

In the context of the government's continuous emphasis on combating waste, proposing the relocation of a building that is still in good condition is unnecessary, especially when many other key projects of the city, such as the Oncology Hospital and the Western Ring Road, are still progressing slowly and need to be completed decisively.

Dr. Tran Huu Hiep emphasized that before discussing relocation, it is necessary to clarify which unit is responsible for assessing the impact, calculating feasibility, and determining the true benefits. A hasty decision could cause the city to lose a symbol without gaining commensurate value.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/xa-hoi/de-xuat-doi-san-van-dong-can-tho-ve-o-mon-20251110175917967.htm