Full view of the arena indoors

(BEIJING, November 14) -- The renovation project is complete for the Workers' Indoor Arena, which is set to hold the Good Luck Beijing International Boxing Invitational Tournament from Nov. 17 to 22.

Renovations began May 26, 2006 and have resulted in an expanded building area of 41,828 sq m. The expanded complex includes a 1,628-sq-m energy resource center, a main boxing arena, and two warm-up halls.

The arena has 12,000 permanent spectator seats and 1,000 temporary seats.

In the future, there will be a parking lot for 400 vehicles.

Various barrier-free improvements now highlight the arena, including wheelchair ramps at the north, south, east, and west entrances and barrier-free restrooms in the spectator, VIP, and athlete areas. In addition, wheelchair accessible seating areas will be located on the floor, near the competition area.

The arena's ventilation, lighting, electrical equipment, acoustics and sound insulation, and spectator seats were are all updated. And an additional 240 journalist seats, 30 VIP seats, and a VIP lounge were installed.

According to Liu Bingyu, the head engineer for the renovation project, new structural reinforcements will protect to the arena from an eight-magnitude earthquake.

The Workers' Indoor Arena also got a major facelift from newly installed windows. The new two-layer windows are made of an environmentally friendly aluminum alloy and are energy efficient.

In 1961, the newly built Workers' Indoor Arena drew a sold-out crowd of 15,000, including Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping, for the 26th World Table Tennis Championships. Following the table tennis worlds, the arena became an important venue for major events and held various major table tennis, basketball, and volleyball competitions.

The Workers' Indoor Arena is once again ready to hold a full house of spectators. It will be the venue for the Boxing competitions of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the Judo competitions of the Paralympic Games.