Balgarianovinite.com Bulgaria’s largest multifunctional indoor arena opened in Sofia on July 30, 2011. Originally named Arena Armeec Sofia, the venue is now known as Arena 8888 Sofia after a change of title sponsor.
The hall took a year and eight months to build. It stands in a 48,711 sq m lot, 4 km southeast of the city centre. The building consists of a basement level and five above-ground levels. The building’s basement level includes a training arena, an auxiliary warm-up arena, underground car park, changing rooms and dressing rooms, a news conference room, a SPA centre, a doping test laboratory and a medical centre. The central arena is at the ground level. The VIP boxes and a media centre with commentator booths are on the second floor. The third floor has spectator seats and cafeterias. The fourth floor is for the administration, a large conference room, an education centre and a sports museum. Other facilities include a press centre, two interview rooms, one restaurant, a snack bar, a coffee bar, and a large fitness gym. When used for sports events, the central arena can seat 12,500 visitors. The capacity for concerts ranges from 17,000 to 19,000.
Following is the original English-language story by which BTA’s External Service covered the hall’s inauguration:
PM Borissov, Sofia Mayor Fandakova Inaugurate Arena Armeec Sofia Multifunctional Sports Hall
Sofia, July 30, 2011
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova simultaneously cut the ribbon here on Saturday for Arena Armeec Sofia, a multifunctional sports hall that took a year and eight months to build.
Borissov thanked Serbian President Boris Tadic who arranged the participation of the Serbian team but was unable to be present at the inauguration of the arena in person.
Attending the ceremony were Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Rosen Plevneliev, Physical Education and Sports Minister Svilen Neykov, Bulgarian Olympic Committee President Stefka Kostadinova, who is an Olympic champion (Atlanta 1996) and world record holder in the high jump, and a host of other Bulgarian sports celebrities.
“For a long time now, Bulgaria needed such a modern and presentable facility,” President Georgi Purvanov wrote on his Facebook page in connection with the inauguration. “I am glad that after so many years our capital city at long last has a new large multifunctional hall,” Purvanov notes.
The first event to be hosted by the facility was a friendly between the men’s volleyball national teams of Bulgaria and Serbia. It was watched by 12,000 spectators. Admission was free, on passes distributed in advance.
On Sunday, July 31, the complex will hold an open day from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
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Ground for this – Bulgaria’s largest sports hall was broken by then Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev on July 2, 2009, but actual construction began only on January 18, 2010, after the new Cabinet negotiated a scale-down of the price by 18 million leva to slightly under 90 million leva with the main contractor, Glavbolgarstroy. The hall stands in a 48,711 sq m lot, on the site of the CSKA ice hockey rink, 4 km southeast of the city centre.
The building (designed by a team led by architect Zheko Tilev) is 124 m long, 108 m wide and 27 m high and has a footstep of 10,620 sq m and a gross floor area of 63,239 sq m.
The complex consists of two principal parts: a lower ferroconcrete structure, which contains the three arenas, the stands and the auxiliary premises (designer in charge: Engr. Tanyu Dimitrov), and a steel roof structure (designer in charge: Engr. Tsvetan Georgiev) which sits on the ferroconcrete part.
The steel roof is the largest ever made in Bulgaria, with a longitudinal span of 120 m on the inside and 78 m on the outside and a transverse dimension of 98 m. The approximate area of the roof is 11,800 sq m, as much as two football grounds, and it weighs 1,550 t – the same as a train of 36 wagons. The structure is held together by 48,000 bolts. This unique mass was hoisted in place with the help of eight hydraulic jacks, each with a hoisting capacity of 250 t. The equipment was supplied by Swiss company VSL. The entire process took four hours in two stages on August 30 and September 1, 2010.
The ferroconcrete structure absorbed 32,000 cu m of concrete and 4,300 t of reinforcing bars.
The building consists of a basement level and five above-ground levels. The basement level includes a training arena (46.72 m by 30.72 m by 12.52 m, floor space: 1,200 sq m), an auxiliary warm-up arena (30 m by 22.10 m by 3.30 m), underground parking, 34 changing rooms (30 for the central arena, including two for disabled athletes, and four for the training arena), separate changing rooms and dressing rooms for artists, a news conference room, a SPA centre with three saunas and a steam bath, a doping test laboratory and a medical centre. The central arena is at the ground level (measuring 124 m by 108 m by 27 m, floor space: 4,200 sq m), and the access point for athletes and VIPs is also located there. Audience access is through four main gates on the first floor. The VIP boxes and a media centre with commentator booths are on the second floor. The third floor has spectator seats and cafeterias. The fourth floor is for the administration, a large conference room, an education centre and a sports museum. Other facilities include a press centre with 100 places (expandable to 250), three simultaneous interpretation booths, two interview rooms, one restaurant, a snack bar, a coffee bar, and a large fitness gym.
When used for sports events, the central arena can seat 12,500 visitors (12,373 regular and 206 in 20 VIP boxes), of which 3,500 can be deployed or retracted in telescopic stands. The capacity for concerts ranges from 17,000 to 19,000 (seated and standing) depending on the orientation of the stage. The training arena has over 300 retractable seats.
The playground size and headroom meet the standards of the international federations in seven sports: rhythmic gymnastics, gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, handball, weightlifting, wrestling and boxing. The facility, however, can host events in 35 types of sports, including badminton, archery, shooting, table tennis, curling, short track speed skating, figure skating and ice hockey. Only track and field athletics cannot be accommodated.
The hall boasts a rare combination of architectural acoustics with acoustic treatment of all surfaces. Saint-Gobain Eurocoustic take credit for the design of that system.
The 49 different building systems comprise double independent power supply and a diesel generator, fire alarm and fire protection (with a sprinkler system having its own tank and full fire-proof surfacing, including 14,000 sq m of suspended refractory and acoustic ceilings), air conditioning (17 units processing 475,000 cu m of air per hour which is fed through 2,200 grids below the seats), state-of-the-art video and audio equipment, CCTV security surveillance etc. The playground is accessible to fire engines, ambulances and heavy-duty trucks. Nineteen thousand spectators can be evacuated from the central arena within 3 minutes through 75 emergency exits.
A total of 1,107 parking spaces are available, including some 100 places for officials and VIPs underground and outdoor parking for some 900 vehicles.
Maintenance of the facility costs between 70,000 and 80,000 leva monthly, or nearly 1 million a year. The costs will be covered by the general sponsor, the Armeec Insurance Company, under a contract signed on July 20, 2011. Armeec will contribute 1,080,000 leva annually, and the facility will be named Arena Armeec Sofia for six years.
The arena has already been booked to host: the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup Series, August 20-21, 2011; the final round of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship (aka the NIGHT of the JUMPs), December 17, 2011; the European qualifying tournament in men’s volleyball for the 2012 London Olympics, May 8-13, 2012; the FIBV Volleyball World League Finals in 2012; and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tournament of Champions for three years, starting in November 2012.
The first artist to stage a concert in the new auditorium will be Jean Michel Jarre, on October 9, 2011. VI/LG July 30, 2011: Bulgaria’s Largest Multifunctional Sports Hall Inaugurated in Sofia 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-07-30 04:25:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law