贺龙体育馆

He Long Gymnasium stands at 299 Laodong West Road in Houtangjia, Tianxin District, with Laodong Road to the south, Furong Road to the east and He Long Stadium immediately to the north-west; it was a key project of Hunan's seventh five-year plan. Construction began on 9 December 1987 and the hall opened in November 1991, covering 115,000 sqm of land with 15,600 sqm of floor area at a total investment of 54 million yuan. It seats 6,500 spectators, 1,090 of them on movable chairs, and the competition hall measures 58 by 30 m, large enough for twelve sports including gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, handball, badminton, tennis, indoor football and rhythmic gymnastics, as well as concerts and public gatherings. The first floor holds VIP and athlete lounges and a gym, the second a spectators' concourse and the third the timing, scoring and lighting control rooms. Built after the Capital Gymnasium and Shanghai Gymnasium, it became one of the country's best-known provincial indoor arenas and has hosted the Asian Gymnastics Championships, CBA All-Star games, WCBA home games of the Bayi women's team, China-USA men's basketball friendlies and numerous concerts. A 55 million yuan upgrade completed in 2019 replaced the seating with 6,400 sports seats, more than 3,000 fixed and over 2,000 movable, restored about 5,700 sqm of outdoor space and renewed the air conditioning and retractable stands. Houtangjia station on Metro lines 1 and 3 is about 100 m from exit 3. The hall is owned by the provincial government and operated by the Hunan provincial sports bureau.