Gokseong-gun, Bandabi Sports Center for People with Disabilities Nears Groundbreaking Ceremony

6.6 Billion Won Scale, Multipurpose Facility from Indoor and Outdoor Sports Facilities to Exercise Prescription Room

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Yoo Geun-gi) announced on the 18th that it is accelerating the construction of the Bandabi Sports Center to bring a higher level of vitality and happiness to the lives of people with disabilities.

Currently, 3,303 people with disabilities live in Gokseong-gun. Considering that the population of Gokseong-gun was 27,835 as of the end of July, this accounts for about 11%. Nevertheless, there have been many restrictions on the activities of people with disabilities due to the lack of dedicated sports and cultural facilities for them.

Since the 7th local government administration, Gokseong-gun has recognized this issue and pledged to build a sports center for people with disabilities. After a difficult process of securing the budget and administrative procedures, construction is finally scheduled to begin this September.

If the construction proceeds as planned, people with disabilities will be able to freely use the facilities starting from October next year.

The Gokseong-gun Bandabi Sports Center will be built at 254 Eupnae-ri, Gokseong-eup (currently the Cultural and Sports Center Lawn Bowling Field), with a total floor area of 1,992.11㎡, consisting of one basement floor and three above-ground floors. The total project cost is 6.65 billion KRW, with 3 billion KRW from the national government and 3.65 billion KRW from the county government. The first floor will include a lounge, lobby, electric wheelchair charging space, a fitness training room, and an exercise prescription room.

Users will be able to receive detailed physical fitness assessments in the exercise prescription room and get customized exercise prescriptions based on the results. Then, under the guidance of exercise therapists in the fitness training room, they can perform the prescribed exercises to lead a healthier life.

Additionally, the audiovisual education room will offer various programs for people with disabilities. The second floor will house a multipurpose indoor gymnasium and family shower rooms as key facilities.

The multipurpose indoor gymnasium, covering approximately 485㎡, will support various sports activities such as boccia, basketball, and volleyball. In the family shower rooms, users can wash off the sweat from exercising with the help of their family members.

The multipurpose program room located on one side of the second floor will be used for various purposes, as its name suggests. The third floor will feature an outdoor activity space with a mini lawn bowling field.

Lawn bowling is a sport played on a grass field where players try to roll their balls close to a target ball, and it is a representative sport enjoyed by people with disabilities. The basement will be used for mechanical rooms such as the boiler room.

Currently, Gokseong-gun has completed the detailed design and coordination for the construction of the Bandabi Sports Center, including discussions on public building architecture, as of June.

Once the routine audit and contract review are completed, the construction company will be selected in September to begin construction. Since important processes such as technical reviews have been finalized, the remaining procedures are expected to proceed smoothly.

A county official said, “Participating in cultural and sports activities without inconvenience is not welfare but a basic right everyone should enjoy. We will carefully inspect and develop the center to ensure safe and enjoyable use of the facilities.”

Resident A said, “Even though I wanted to exercise, it was difficult to challenge myself easily. Once the center is completed, I plan to visit daily to exercise and participate in cultural programs,” expressing anticipation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.