21If you’re a fan of watching football matches, you’re probably already familiar with Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi. It’s no surprise, as this stadium has often served as the venue for many football matches, both national and international.
But do you know the journey this stadium has gone through to become as great as it is today? Let’s take a closer look at the interesting facts behind the development of the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in this article.
Before it was known as Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium, many people referred to it as GOR Bekasi, which stands for Gelanggang Olahraga Bekasi. In fact, GOR Bekasi wasn’t just a stadium but a complex that included the Patriot Stadium, an indoor sports hall, and also a city forest.
The Patriot Stadium within the GOR Bekasi complex had relatively minimum facilities and could only accommodate a limited number of spectators, which was fewer than 15,000 people. These limitations also affected the availability of proper facilities for Bekasi athletes to maximize their training and achieve their best performance.
In 2011, a major project was launched as the starting point of the transformation of Patriot Stadium. The stadium, which initially held fewer than 15,000 spectators, saw a massive increase in capacity to over 30,000 seats.
The construction was carried out in several phases and cost hundreds of billions of rupiah, funded by the Bekasi City Budget and the West Java Provincial Budget. In total, the development was divided into three stages: the first phase started in 2011, followed by phase two A and phase two B.
After phase two was completed, the stadium was officially inaugurated in 2014 by the mayor of Bekasi at the time, Rahmat Effendi. The stadium's inauguration coincided with Bekasi City’s 17th anniversary celebration on March 10, 2014.
Although it could already be used, the spectator capacity at the time of inauguration was still limited. Construction then continued to phase three in 2014 with the goal of completion in 2015. Not only did the structure change, but the name also changed to Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium. The name Candrabhaga was chosen because of its historical connection to the City of Bekasi.
2018 Renovation
Indonesia was selected to host the 2018 Asian Games, and Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium was chosen as one of the venues. The stadium renovation was accelerated to ensure that it would be ready for the international event.
Various facilities were improved, the pitch grass was upgraded to meet FIFA standards, and, most importantly, the field’s drainage system was repaired. Previously, the field’s drainage did not meet international standards, as it would flood every time it rained. This became one of the main priorities to ensure that all matches held at the stadium could run smoothly in all weather conditions.
Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium underwent another renovation to make it even better. Renovation began in early 2024 using funding from the central government and was completed in early 2025. However, the next phase of the renovations is still planned, focusing on improving the pitch’s irrigation system, which is currently still inadequate.
Those are some interesting facts about the proud stadium of Bekasi citizens. If you’re interested in visiting the stadium, you can take the LRT and get off at Bekasi Barat LRT Station, then continue by taxi or motorcycle ride.
For those coming from out of town, you can take a train and get off at Jatinegara Station, then continue using the Commuter Line to Bekasi Station. If you are flying in, you can take the airport train and get off at Sudirman Baru Station or BNI City Station and then continue using the Commuter Line to Bekasi Station.
Whichever public transportation you choose to reach Bekasi, don’t forget to protect your trip with Travel Insurance from MSIG Indonesia. And if you enjoy sports and are interested in exercising in the GOR Bekasi area, you can protect yourself with Sport Insurance from MSIG Indonesia.
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