Tašmajdan Sports and Recreation Center

Tašmajdan Sports and Recreation Center (Serbian: Спортско-рекреациони центар Ташмајдан, romanized: Sportsko-rekreacioni centar Tašmajdan; abbr. Tašmajdan SRC, Serbian: СРЦ Ташмајда, romanized: SRC Tašmajdan), commonly known simply as Taš (Serbian Cyrillic: Таш), is a sporting and recreational center located in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. It was founded by the Assembly of the City of Belgrade in 1958.

Tašmajdan SRC
Taš
Tašmajdan outdoor pools in August 2023.
Tašmajdan SRC is located in Belgrade
Tašmajdan SRC
Tašmajdan SRC
Location within Belgrade
Full nameSportsko-rekreacioni centar Tašmajdan
Address26 Ilije Garašanina Street
LocationBelgrade,  Serbia
Coordinates44°48′33″N 20°28′22″E
OwnerCity of Belgrade
OperatorJ.P. SRC Tašmajdan
Typesports and recreation center
Capacity10,500 (football)
8,000 (basketball)[1][2][3]
2,000 (ice hockey)
Opened1954 (1954)
Website
www.tasmajdan.rs
🌍
Location within neighborhood

At within the center located of the outdoor Tašmajdan Stadium, the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall, the Pionir Ice Hall and a complex of outdoor and indoor swimming pools.

Tašmajdan Stadium
Stadion Tašmajdan

Construction of the stadium began in 1952.[4] Built with white stone from Brač island, and opened on 24 January 1954,[5] by mid 2000s the stadium began showing signs of structural deterioration.[6] Architect Mihajlo Janković, was awarded the Belgrade's October award for architecture, the highest city award at the time, for the Tašmajdan project. Originally, the sports complex started as the ice factory, where people could buy the so-called "hygienic ice".[7]

When opened, the stadium wasn't fully finished, but already in 1954 it hosted volleyball, basketball, and tennis matches.[4] Some of the best known happenings in the venue include: EuroBasket Women 1954, first Miss Yugoslavia contest in 1957 (won by Tonka Katunarić), 1957 World Women's Handball Championship (the inaugural world women championship), concerts of Alexandrov Ensemble in 1958 and later in the 1960s and 1970s of Mazowsze, Elton John, Ray Charles and Tina Turner and ice hockey matches with over 10,000 spectators.[8] Yugoslav national tennis team played the Davis Cup matches in 1956 in Tašmajdan and the curiosities held in the facility include the chess with live figures, the football matches played by the Zastava 750 cars[9] and the first Spanish corrida in Europe outside of Spain, when Luis Miguel Dominguín performed in September 1971.[4][7] Tašmajdan hosted the first FINA World Aquatics Championships in 1973.

After the 1977-1978 season, the ice skating rink was dismantled in March 1978.[7] Bad conditions of the facility in the 2000s led many public personalities in Belgrade (Cane Kostić, Neda Arnerić, Branko Cvejić) to urge the city government to do something about it. In mid-April 2009, the initiative called "Taš je naš" (Serbian Cyrillic: Таш је наш; "Taš is ours") was held to draw public attention to the sad state of the crumbling facility.[10] In the summer of 2009 the stadium was closed to the public due to the impending reconstruction.[11] An extensive RSD550 million renovation began in September 2011. Originally, the reconstruction was to be finished in December 2012, then was postponed to 2014 and was finally completed in 2016.[12][13] As the object is under the protection, the conceptual solution for the reconstruction had to fully preserve the original author's concept.[9] Since December 2016, the ice skating rink became operational again during the winter. It covers 1,800 m2 (19,000 sq ft) and though it worked only for less than 60 days in 2016, it had 30,000 visitors.[4][14]

Pionir Sports Complex

Aleksandar Nikolić Hall
Main article: Aleksandar Nikolić Hall

The hall, designed by Ljiljana and Dragomir Bakić, was opened on 24 May 1973 as the Pionir Hall. It was later renamed after Aleksandar Nikolić, "father of Yugoslav basketball". The interior was completely refurbished in 2019 and enlarged to 8,000 seats.[4]

Pionir Ice Hall
Main article: Pionir Ice Hall

Swimming pools

Outdoor swimming pool
Outdoor swimming pool
Building information
Coordinates44°48′33.08″N 20°28′21.73″E
Capacity2,500
Opened25 June 1961
Pools
Name Length Width Depth Lanes
- 50 m 22 m 2.2–5 m ?
Tašmajdan Sports and Recreation Center

The outdoor swimming pool was opened on 25 June 1961. Its capacity is 2,500, and swimming beaches hold around 3,500 people, for the total of 6,000, including the activation of telescopic bleachers.[4]

Reconstruction of the pool began on 10 March 2020, after the works on the stadium were finished. The pool will get a new, stainless steel bed, and the deepest end will be shortened from 4.8 to 2 m (15.7 to 6.6 ft), for safety and maintenance reasons, while the pool will remain eligible for all competitions. The works should be completed in June 2020.[15]

Indoor swimming pool
Indoor swimming pool
Building information
Coordinates44°48′32.87″N 20°28′23.55″E
Capacity2,000
Opened13 December 1968
Pools
Name Length Width Depth Lanes
large 50 m 20 m 2.2–5.4 m ?
small 12 m 3 ? -

The indoor swimming pool was opened on 13 December 1968.[4] The pool's dimensions are 50 × 20 m. The capacity for spectators is 2,000 seats.[4] Within the same building there is a recreation center, a gym, a small swimming pool and a hotel named Taš.

Notable basketball matches
DateHome TeamResultAway TeamOccasionNotes
29 May 1964Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Belgrade Selection51—98United States NBA All-StarsNBA All-Stars' Yugoslav Tour

— Belgrade: Slobodan Gordić (10 points), Radivoj Korać (20p), Trajko Rajković (4p), Miodrag Nikolić, Miloš Bojović (4p), Vladimir Cvetković (4p), Nemanja Đurić (9p), Dragan Kovačić, Dragoslav Ražnatović, Dragutin Čermak, Tihomir Pavlović
— NBA: Bill Russell (4 points), Bob Pettit (12p), Oscar Robertson (31p), Bob Cousy (6p), Jerry Lucas (26p), Tom Heinsohn (11p), Tom Gola (8p), coach Red Auerbach
— attendance: ~8,500
— referees: Miroslav Minić and Obrad Belošević (both from Belgrade)
— the May–June 1964 NBA All-Stars tour in Eastern Europe and North Africa was sponsored by the U.S. State Department and the eight NBA players were briefed by the Secretary of State Dean Rusk about what to expect and how to behave in countries where "they're likely to encounter anti-American sentiment".[16]
— other than the two games in Belgrade, the NBA All-Stars tour stops in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia included Zagreb (1 June 1964), Karlovac (2 June), and Ljubljana (4 June).
— in addition to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the NBA All-Stars tour included games in the Polish People's Republic, the Socialist Republic of Romania, and Egypt
— 24-year-old Dragan Kovačić played the game for the Belgrade selection despite not playing his club basketball for a Belgrade-based club nor being from Belgrade.
— 25-year-old Cincinnati Royals guard Oscar Robertson was named the NBA league MVP for the just completed 1963-64 season.
— 35-year-old Boston College head coach Bob Cousy had already been retired from playing pro basketball for over a year at the time of the tour, which marked his temporary comeback to playing basketball.
— K.C. Jones didn't play in the first game in Belgrade.

30 May 1964Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Belgrade Selection52—100United States NBA All-StarsNBA All-Stars' Yugoslav Tour— Belgrade: Slobodan Gordić (4 points), Radivoj Korać (16p), Nemanja Đurić (8p), Miodrag Nikolić, Josip Đerđa (6p), Dragan Kovačić (2p), Miloš Bojović (2p), Vladimir Cvetković (4p), Ratomir Vićentić, Dragoslav Ražnatović (8p), Dragutin Čermak (2p), Tihomir Pavlović
— NBA: Bob Pettit (19 points), Bob Cousy (25p), Oscar Robertson (16p), Tom Heinsohn (16p), Jerry Lucas (22p), K.C. Jones (2p), coach Red Auerbach
— attendance: ~5,000
— referees: Jovan Petrović and Dragaš Jakšić (both from Belgrade)
— 26-year-old Josip Đerđa played the game for the Belgrade selection despite not playing his club basketball for a Belgrade-based club nor being from Belgrade.
— Bill Russell and Tom Gola picked up small knocks in the first game in Belgrade and decided to sit out the second one.

Concerts
Tašmajdan Stadium in September 2019.

Over the decades, the open air stadium has hosted a variety of acts in late spring and summer from May to September:

List of concerts
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s

Other

References
  1. izgleda NJEN DEČKO! BLIC VESTI BEOGRAD Vesić: Hala "Aleksandar Nikolić" dobila novo lice, mesta za 8.000 gledalaca
  2. Zablistao novi Pionir sa 8.000 mesta: Telegraf prvi ušao u renoviranu halu "Aleksandar Nikolić"
  3. Hala „Aleksandar Nikolić” otvara se 1. oktobra
  4. Ana Popović (16–17 February 2020). ""Taš" je jedan od brendova prestonice" ["Taš" is one of the capital's brands]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 19.
  5. Nikola Belić (28 November 2010), "Led kreće, klizaljke na gotovs", Politika (in Serbian)
  6. ‘TAŠ' UNIŠTEN!, Press, April 10, 2004
  7. D.Vukotić (7 April 2009), "Ulaganja zaobilazila stadion "Tašmajdan"", Politika (in Serbian)
  8. Vladimir Stanimirović (4 May 2009), "Podrška za Tašmajdan", Politika (in Serbian)
  9. M.R.B. (7 October 2011), "Počinje obnova stadiona "Tašmajdan"", Politika (in Serbian)
  10. Akcija "Taš je naš" – vratimo mu stari sjaj, MTS Mondo, April 5, 2009
  11. Marija Brakočević (28 July 2011), "Na korak do obnove stadiona Tašmajdan", Politika (in Serbian)
  12. Marija Brakočević (3 November 2013), "Stadion Tašmajdan u belom betonu umesto u bračkom kamenu", Politika (in Serbian)
  13. "Evo ko će svirati na otvaranju Taša". mondo.rs. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  14. A.J. (16 December 2017), "Fešta na tašmajdanskom ledu" [Festivity on Tašmajdan's ice], Politika (in Serbian), p. 14
  15. Branka Vasiljević (28 April 2020). Базени на Ташу за око два месеца спремни за купаче [Taš pools ready for swimmers in around two months]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 14.
  16. Pakrac, Tomislav (2 June 2014). "Košarkaški fanatik: 50 godina od gostovanja NBA All-Stars momčadi u Hrvatskoj". crosarka.com. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  17. "Riblja Corba - oficijalni sajt".
  18. "Riblja Corba - oficijalni sajt".
  19. Belgrade to host the LEN Champions League Water Polo Final Eight in 2021-2023 Boxscorenews.com, 16 April 2021. Accessed 20 April 2021.
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