14 April is an important date for Novi Sad – on that day in 1981, SPENS was opened. It’s one of the symbols of the city every citizen of Novi Sad has fond memories of.
Many have learned to swim and ice skate here, won medals in sports competitions and attended concerts of great musicians.
There are many reasons why SPENS is important for the citizens of Novi Sad. On the occasion of celebrating its 40th birthday, we’re going to remind you about the interesting facts about this edifice, as well as those that fell into oblivion.
How did SPENS come to be? After Chine gave up on organising the 36th World Table Tennis Championship, Novi Sad accepted candidacy for being the host. This was the reason for building SPENS. SPENS is short for Stonotenisko Prvenstvo Novi Sad (en. Table Tennis Championship in Novi Sad), therefore the very name preserves the memory of this event. SPENS was opened on 14 April 1981.
Živorad Janković and Branko Bulić from the Institute for Urbanism of the Faculty of Architecture from Sarajevo, designed this modern edifice of The Sports and Business Center Vojvodina, which is the ‘real’ name of SPENS.
In 1982, legendary Michael Jordan played here with his university selection from the US against Yugoslavia. Our team won 93:92.
In addition to numerous sports events, SPENS is a well-known concert venue where many famous local musicians have performed, such as Đorđe Balašević, Džiboni, Parni Valjak, Zdravko Čolić and others.
Author: Leona Pap
Photo: Vladimir Veličković
