By Nick Giongco
The architecture of the two venues being built at the New Clark City in Tarlac for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games – a 20,000-seat track stadium and aquatics center – get their inspiration from familiar Filipino images.
The track and field venue got its inspiration from the caldera (crater) of nearby Mt. Pinatubo while that of swimming will have a Capiz shell-inspired roof structure and grid lines looking like ‘baklad’, the nets used by fishermen.
The athletics stadium has been given by the IAAF a Class 2 stamp of approval and will have a 9-lane 400m track.
Even after the SEAG is over, the venue could become a perfect hist for the staging of festivals and concerts.
A ten-lane competition pool and eight-lane training pool make up the aquatics center apart from a 5.0-m diving pool and inland diving training facility.
The venue can also accommodate 2,000 people and is already certified by FINA, swimming’s governing body.
The SEAG will be held from Nov. 30- Dec. 11 with the New Clark City in the historic World War II-town of Capas as main hub. Other prime venues are located mostly in Metro Manila, Subic, Tagaytay, Cavite and Bulacan.
