Interior view of Víctor Jara Stadium
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Former names | Estadio Chile (1949-2004) |
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Location | Santiago, Chile |
Capacity | 6,500 |
Construction | |
Opened | 1949 |
Architect | Mario Recordón and Jorge Patiño |
Estadio Víctor Jara is an indoor multi-use sports complex located in the western part of Santiago, Chile, near the Estación Central and Alameda Avenue. It was designed in the rationalist style and was opened in 1949 as Estadio Chile (Chile Stadium). It has a total capacity for an audience of 6,500 people.
In 2004 it was renamed as a memorial to folk singer Víctor Jara. Jara and thousands of other putative enemies of the state were held at the two major stadiums of Santiago, the Estadio Chile and the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos after the Chilean coup of 1973 by the Chilean Army. Jara was tortured and killed at the Estadio Chile on 15 September 1973. Before his death, he wrote and performed his last song, "Estadio Chile". Today, Estadio Víctor Jara is used for volleyball, basketball, futsal, and occasionally for table tennis tournaments; formerly it was also a training center for boxing and professional wrestling.
Estadio Víctor Jara features a steel truss supported roof and a rubber based playing surface, which has a polyurethane layer on top. The walls are of reinforced concrete, 30 cm (12 in) in thickness. It also has facilities to lodge up to 185 sportspeople.
Unión Latinoamericana metro station provides access to this sports complex.
Until 2009, when it was closed for these kinds of events, the complex was an important concert venue. The list of artists that have performed at Estadio Víctor Jara include: Toto, Living Colour, Los Prisioneros, James Brown, Iron Butterfly, La Renga, Soda Stereo, Rare Earth, Charly García, Rata Blanca, Attaque 77, Marillion, Morrissey, Kraftwerk, The Strokes, Dio, Lacrimosa, Kreator, Megadeth, Stratovarius, Mägo de Oz, Motörhead, Soulfly, Misfits, Danzig, Agnostic Front, Dead Kennedys, Destruction, The Haunted, Immortal, Napalm Death, Criminal, Hanson, Ska-P, Iron Maiden, among others.