The new sports hub

We visited the new Sports Hub last Sun. The place is huge. The major draw to us is the Kallang Wave shopping mall and the new National Stadium. The Kallang Wave mall was not fully operationally. Most of the shops are still under renovation and we are not able to access to the 2nd story. So there are limited restaurants or food options. Nothing much inside the mall except the main centrepiece of the rock climbing which is quite impressive but I don't see a lot of people participating. It reminds me of the one at Orchard Central. 

One thing to note is that to get to the National Stadium, we have to climb the long fleet of stairs up. The escalators and lifts are not functional yet. So we have to carry our baby stroller all the way to climb the fleet of stairs. It was very tiring. Not stroller or wheelchair friendly at all. It was most inconvenient for those with kids and old folks. I saw many old folks were struggling to climb up and down the stairs. The sports hub management should have been more thoughtful about this especially it is new opening. Maybe when the lifts or escalators are functional, it could relieve the situation. However one design flaw is that there are limited shelter to the national stadium. Imagine having to climb the fleet of stairs under the hot sun. 

The National Stadium was quite amazing though. It was huge and with a powerful ventilation system I think. We are walking around the stadium and we could feel the breeze from the stadium. It was linked to 3 MRT stations: Stadium, Kallang and Mountbatten and within short walking distance. 

Our googie was happily exploring the place running around. There is also a playground near to the indoor stadium on the 2nd level and she was having loads of fun. 

Verdict

There is not much reason for us to go there again unless we have participated some events at the Sports Hub which I think very unlikely. The place looks nice with lots of walking area. However there are limited shelter and not stroller friendly. Most of the people are hiding inside the shopping mall cos the heat was too unbearable. So it defeats the purpose of having those facilities too. Such design might be feasible in those temperate countries but not here. In Chinese it means 好看不好吃。 

Googie exploring under the hot sun