Gentofte Sports Park

Gentofte Sportspark (formerly Gentofte Stadion) is a multi-purpose stadium in Gentofte near Copenhagen, Denmark. The stadium holds 15,000 people. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Hellerup IK. Other sports clubs based in the sports park include the ice hockey team Gentofte Stars and the badminton club Gentofte BK. The stadium has also been used for concerts.

History

In 1920, Captain Holger Nielsen took over the post as supervisor of the gymnastics and swimming programmes at the municipality's schools. He became a driver force behind the construction of Gentofte Stadium. In 1921, Gentofte Municipality acquired Tjornegarden, a farm with a series of old clay pits located on its land. In 1936, an architectural competition for the design of a stadium at the site was launched. It was won by Arne Jacobsen. His proposal comprised the largest stadium in the Nordic countries but his winning proposal was strongly modified and only partially realized. The stadium was inaugurated on 27 September 1942. The inauguration ceremony was attended by 20,000 spectators.

A new tribune with room for 5,000 spectators was inaugurated in 1954. More football fields, an archery stadium and an ice skating rink was built were added in 1965. The original splans for indoor swimming and sports venues were not realized but Kildeskovshallen was built in 1969 and later expanded in 1970-1972. Facilities for skate boarding were built in 2010.