page_title: Briskeby Arena
section_title: Arena
hierarchical_section_title: Briskeby Arena / History / Arena
caption_attribution_description: Briskeby gressbane, in Hamar, Hedmark, Norway.
context_page_description: Briskeby Arena, previously known as Briskeby gressbane, is an all-seater football stadium located at Briskebyen in Hamar, Norway. It is home to the Norwegian First Division side Hamarkameratene and is owned by Hamar Municipality. The venue has artificial turf, three stands and a capacity for 8,068 spectators. It was used for the 1938 Norwegian Football Cup Final—which saw the venue's record 14,500 spectators—and has also hosted five Norway national under-21 football team matches between 1984 and 2011.
  Construction started in 1934 and the venue opened on 28 June 1936 as the first home venue for Briskebyen FL. The club merged with Hamar AIL in 1946 to form Ham-Kam. The new club has played since 1970 played 22 seasons in the top tier, having been relegated eight times, most recently in 2008. Ham-Kam's record home attendance is 11,500, dating from a 1976 match against Lillestrøm. In 1984, the club house was rebuilt with luxury boxes and a new 2,400-seat East Stand was built. The investments lead the club into financial distress, and in 1993 the municipality had to purchase the venue to save the club.
context_section_description: By 2001 NFF was in the process of implementing new stadium requirements in the top leagues, and Briskeby would no longer be permitted to be used in the top tier. Ham-Kam entered an alliance with Totalprosjekt—a real estate development company working on Lillestrøm's Åråsen Stadion—who presented a concept to finance a new venue: The municipality would transfer property to a limited company jointly owned by the municipality and the major sports clubs, the real estate would be re-regulated to increase their value, and the company would use this capital to build a new professional and a new recreational stadium. Parallel with this, a municipal commission made a report that recommended a consolidation in the number of venues in town and the conversion of gravel and grass fields to artificial turf. The commission recommended that a new professional football venue be built either at Briskeby or Hamar stadion.
  Hamar Sportsanlegg (HSA) was established in 2003 to execute the plan. It was owned 34 percent by the municipality, and 22 percent each by Ham-Kam, Hamar IL and Storhamar Dragons. In 2004, Storhamar's share was transferred to Hamar Olympiske Anlegg, a municipal company which owns Vikingskipet Olympic Arena and Hamar Olympic Amphitheater. A report estimated the technical value of Briskeby to NOK 6 million, while the sales price of the lot was estimated at NOK 30 million. The municipal council voted on 18 February 2004 to transfer the ownership of the two stadiums to the new company. Ham-Kam rented the venues from HSA, with HSA's deficit for the first four years being covered by the municipality. Of the NOK 20.8 million in value transferred to the company, NOK 14.5 million was paid by HSA taking over the municipality's obligation to build a new athletics venue should Hamar stadion be closed, and NOK 5 million was debt.
  In October 2004, Totalprosjekt presented the concept Skibladner Stadion, which would have been located on Tjuvholmen, a peninsula which sticks out into Mjøsa. In addition to a 9,000-seat stadium, the project included a cultural center with an 800-seat auditorium and a 22-story hotel. However, Tjvuholmen is a popular recreational areas and a process to regulate the area as such had just been completed. The location would also cause problems for the railway, who wanted to expand Hamar Station. The Tjvuholmen project was rejected by the municipal executive committee on 8 December, and on 16 March 2005, the municipal council voted to continue working on a new venue at Briskeby. This caused Totalproject to leave the project.
  In 2004, Biong Arkitekter was contracted to design the stadium, with Byggeråd as structural engineers. Five proposals for Briskeby were launched, estimated to cost between NOK 61 and 150 million. Three of them retained the current alignment and would give a capacity of between 8,800 and 10,200 spectators, and two of these again contained commercial and residential properties within the stadium complex. The two other proposals involved turning the pitch 90 degrees, which would give the least encroachment on neighbor properties. The residents' association demanded that an impact study be made and that more specific plans be presented before municipal approval. The municipality concluded that neither were required. The municipal council passed a regulation plan on 1 February 2006, which involved building a 10,200 seat venue, but with the smaller of the two possible commercial property sizes. The residents' association appealed to the county governor, who reject the appeal on 1 September.
  At the time NFF awarded an annual license to clubs which permitted them to play in the top two divisions. This included a series of criteria that the home venue needed to meet. As Briskeby was severely substandard to the criteria, Ham-Kam was required to apply for annual exemptions. These were only awarded to clubs who were actively working on upgrading or building new venues. If an exception was not granted, the club would either be relegated to the Second Division (the third tier), or would have to play their hom
caption: The venue in 2007
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