Scandinavium
 
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| Location | Valhallagatan 1 Gothenburg, Sweden |
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| Coordinates | 57°41′57″N 11°59′16″E / 57.69917°N 11.98778°ECoordinates: 57°41′57″N 11°59′16″E / 57.69917°N 11.98778°E |
| Owner | Idrotts- och kulturcentrum Scandinavium i Göteborg AB |
| Operator | Got Event |
| Capacity |
Handball: 12,312 Ice hockey: 12,044 Concert: 14,000 |
| Record attendance | 14,606 (Whitney Houston; 29 May 1988) |
| Construction | |
| Built | May 1969 — May 1971 |
| Opened | 18 May 1971 |
| Renovated | 2001, 2006 |
| Expanded | 1990 |
| Construction cost | 31 million SEK |
| Architect | Poul Hultberg |
| Tenants | |
| Frölunda HC (SHL) (1971–present) | |
Scandinavium (Swedish pronunciation: [skandɪˈnɑːvjɵm]) is an indoor arena located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Construction on Scandinavium began in 1969 after decades of setbacks, and was inaugurated on 18 May 1971.
Scandinavium has been selected as a championship arena at least fifty times, hosting events such as World Championships in handball and ice hockey, European championships, Davis Cup finals, and in 1985 the Eurovision Song Contest. Scandinavium is the home arena for Frölunda HC of Swedish Hockey League, and venue for the annual Göteborg Horse Show.
Plans to build an arena at the site were part of a proposal originating from 1931 to build a swimming hall and other municipally owned facilities for sport and recreation next to the exhibition center Svenska Mässan. In 1936 a preplanning process for the swimming hall and the adjunct area started, but was put on hold due to the precarious situation in Europe at the time and eventually canceled following the outbreak of World War II. In 1948 an architectural design competition was announced for an indoor arena with the project name Valhalla Inomhusarena (English: Valhalla indoor arena), the winning design was presented by a work group led by architect Poul Hultberg, who was working for Nils Olsson's architect firm in Gothenburg. Financing for the arena and other proposed facilities became a subject of public and political debate, the plans to build the arena were postponed indefinitely. The Valhalla Swimming Hall, which was the primary building in the 1931 proposal, was the only proposed facility to be built during the 1950s due to capacity problems at other central swimming facilities.
In the 1962 election campaign the Swedish Social Democratic Party guaranteed that they would build the arena if they won the election. The Social Democrats won the election and a pre-planning process was started but financing was still an issue and the plans were yet again put on hold. In 1968 a committee assigned to plan the 350th year celebration of Gothenburg considered that it was a good idea to build the arena in time for the celebrations in 1971, making it a lasting memory of the anniversary. A company responsible for the construction was formed by the municipality and private investors, while Hultberg was asked to revise his 23-year-old designs. An estimated construction cost of twenty-three million SEK caused wild protests and intense debates but did not delay the progress. In May 1969 it was discovered that there was no construction permit for the arena, delaying the start of construction for a few weeks. When tartan tracks were installed near the end of construction, the concentration of flammable gases in the building was so high that one spark could have potentially blown up the entire structure. When construction was completed in May 1971, Scandinavium stood as the largest covered arena in northern Europe with an attendance capacity of 14,000 spectators. The construction cost totaled thirty-one million SEK, which resulted in an eight million SEK budget deficit.
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