Minister tours new facilities at WB Sports Centre

(CNS): New changing rooms at the Ed Bush Sports Centre in West Bay have brought the stadium facilities in line with requirements for international football tournaments, governemnt officials say. Turnaround of the project took three months, from April to July of this year, and cost $1.493 million. Sports Minister Osbourne Bodden said the construction team. had "done a fantastic job in pulling this off. Any doubts I had about the time constraints were quickly laid to rest.” He said the project showed an “incredible value for the money put in” and hoped it would help to “solidify the government’s support for the future development of sport on-island, including sports tourism”.

The Public Works Department recently handed over the keys to the newly completed facilities in West Bay to the Ministry of Sports. 

The 5,884-square-foot building includes two changing rooms that each accommodate a 20 person team. Both have their own lockers, whiteboards, a coaches’ room, showers, and a restroom.

Players also now have direct secure access to the changing rooms, so that they do not have to mix with the press or other officials.

Other facilities include a medical suite, anti-doping control room, and a referees’ dressing room, all with their own restrooms and showers.  In addition a VIP reception area, secretariat suite, and media/press conference room all overlook the playing field.

Parking services now accommodate large buses and persons with disabilities. Meanwhile brand new public bathrooms have also been added to the building, as well as a concessions room with two roll-down grilles to serve the multitude of fans that attend football games in the district.

In addition the project management team designed and constructed the new structure with the future of the stadium in mind.. As such the roof of the new structure was engineered to provide the base for a possible new grandstand in the future.

Anson M. Stuart, Project Manager for Public Works, and Delano Bush, Site Manager at Arch and Godfrey, led the tour. Garth Arch, Managing Director at Arch and Godfrey, Pedro Theye, Senior Architect at DDL Studio, Alexi Ebanks, Architectural Designer at DDL Studio, and Joel Francis, Senior Policy Advisor in the Ministry with responsibility for Sports, Youth, and Culture, were also present.

Arch commended the efforts of everyone involved with the project, especially Project Manager Dean Gaffigan, and Site Manager Mr Delano Bush, both at Arch and Godfrey.

Government undertook the project to ensure that the stadium would be CONCACAF approved for all future tournaments, including the U-15 girls’ championship beginning on 6 August.

Officials expect the site to be furnished within the next couple of days, in preparation for the start of the tournament.

Representatives from CONCACAF and CIFA also did walkthroughs of the new structure to ensure that the building met all CONCACAF requirements for the upcoming U15 girls’ competition which gets underway this evening Wednesday 6 August 2014.