On 2 May 1956, Tunku and McDonald started looking for suitable sites for the stadium, one of the first places they visited was the Chin Woo stadium. While standing on the tower of the stadium, Tunku saw a few athletes practicing near the Coronation Park, and asked “Don’t you think it would make an ideal spot for Stadium Merdeka?”[9] Although McDonald was concerned about the traffic congestion that might arise in the future, Tunku insisted that it was the perfect spot for the country’s first stadium.
The site was a Chinese cemetery before it became the oldest golf course in Kuala Lumpur, which had been abandoned since 1921. The site was then later called “Coronation Park” when George VI was crowned as the King of United Kingdom.[10] Before it was decided to build a stadium on that site, several quarters were planned to be built on the site by the Royal Malaysia Police. The uneven ground of the site means that excavation work had to be carried out before it could be constructed. The construction of the stadium would also mean that a small part of the school ground of Victoria Institution would be acquired.
On its construction
Due to budget constraints, most of the construction materials were made locally, which meant that imported materials such as structural steels had to be avoided.[14] To ensure that the stadium would be finished in time, the designing was done by “fast-track” method,[15][16] which means that after each element of the design was finished, it was immediately constructed.
The stadium held two world records upon its completion: the tallest prestressed floodlight towers at 120 feet[14] and the biggest cantilever shell roofs.[22][23] The floodlight towers, constructed from Hume culvert pipes, was also the first prestressed tower in the world which was made from precast culvert pipe units.[14] Another interesting feat accomplished at the time is that all four towers were erected without using a crane.[24] The shell roof for the grandstand, made out of concrete, was chosen as it was both economically affordable and aesthetically beautiful.
Events held, besides the Declaration of Independence and the Proclamation of Malaysia
The stadium was the venue for the Brunei Merdeka Games, which was held to commemorate the Independence day of Malaya^e5.
Pestabola Merdeka, an annual football tournament, was held at the stadium from 30 August to 8 September 1957^e5.
In 1975, the stadium hosted the Hockey World Cup final between Pakistan and India^e5.
The stadium also hosted numerous major concerts, including two concerts of History World Tour held by Michael Jackson in October 1996, which attracted a total of 110,000 people to watch on site^e1.
In 1975, Stadium Merdeka hosted a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Bugner^b4
Prior to the completion of Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Stadium Merdeka was once the home ground for both the national football team (1957–1998) and Selangor FA (1957–1994), and was used temporarily by the Kuala Lumpur FA in 1997^e5.
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