As an architect and civil engineering graduate,
Sukarno proposed a sports center location near M. H. Thamrin Boulevard and
Menteng (
Karet,
Pejompongan, or Dukuh Atas) for the
1962 Asian Games. Then he was accompanied by
Friedrich Silaban to review the location of the proposed sports complex by helicopter. Silaban disagreed with the selection of Dukuh Atas because he argued the construction of a sports complex in the center the future downtown area will potentially create a massive traffic congestion. Sukarno agreed Silaban recommendation and instead assigned the project to the Senayan area with an area of approximately 300 hectares. However, the name of the sports complex (and the Istora) was reverted by Indonesian president at the time
Abdurrahman Wahid since 17 January 2001. although the Istora Senayan name is still used informally. Istora had a U-shaped indoor lobby attached on its front since some time after the 1960s to 2016. The court and tribune were surrounded by multi-functional rooms. Those were demolished during the subsequent renovation. The rooms are incorporated underneath the tribune, leaving no other buildings attached to it. The 2016 - 18 renovation of Istora for the
2018 Asian Games cost Rp132 billion (around US$10 million with the exchange rate at the time), reducing the capacity from 9,500 to around 7,000 spectators. During the latest renovation, there were already some delft blue single seats installed on the mid-section of west and east tribune along with yellow (4 corners) and green (mid-section of north and south tribune) wooden
bleachers. Those were scrapped and replaced by single seats, consist of 3 shades of grey. However, to preserve the memory of the old Istora, there are five rows of seat using new all-brown wooden bleachers, placed near Gate 1. ==Entertainment events==