Big plans for Trelawny Stadium
Published:Friday | June 28, 2024 | 12:08 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The Trelawny Multipurpose Stadium, which offered so much promise when it was created as a legacy project for the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean, seems poised to finally realise its full potential.
In her Sectoral Debate presentation to the nation’s parliament on Tuesday, Sports Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange outlined exciting plan for the stadium, which based on its location in the nation’s tourism belt is viewed as the ideal platform to tap into the global multibillion-dollar sports tourism market.
Except for the glamorous opening ceremony for 2007 World Cup, the stadium, which was constructed at a whopping US$30 million and has a seating capacity of 25,000, has seen very little major activities since then as it has only hosted a handful of international cricket and football matches, as well as a few editions of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Music Festival.
However, based on plans outlined by Grange, the stadium, which is steadily falling into disrepair and is considered a ‘white elephant’ by many, is now poised to finally function as the world-class facility it was created to be, and in so doing, play a greater role in developing and exposing the nation’s athletes.
“This government is determined to exploit the full potential of the Trelawny Stadium for the benefit of the Jamaican people,” said Grange. “In this regard, we have been in discussions about a US$550m development at the facility.”
While the stadium falls under the management of Independence Park Limited, the planned repurposing of the facility is to be driven by private investors, whose vision for facility is to make it viable and sustainable through high sporting traffic.
“The venture is driven by private equity and not public funding,” said Grange. “The investors propose to transform Trelawny (stadium) into a high-performance sports complex that can accommodate 21 sports disciplines, host international games, awards ceremonies and serve as training grounds.”
When the stadium was first created, then sports minister and former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said the plan was to create a complete sports village with a facility like the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston to facilitate sports like netball and basketball, alongside additional outdoor facilities for cycling and outdoor sports. She said sport-related businesses and accommodation for visiting teams were also on the cards.
However, with a substantial amount of the lands surrounding the stadium gone into unrelated housing developments, the sporting village concept appears to be no longer feasible, with less space to work with now.
According to Grange, based on the ongoing discussions with the investors, creating accommodation to support the facility is a part of their plan.
“This sports tourism development also proposes the construction of high-rise condominiums and a hotel. The discussions about this exciting development are going well and I look forward to more constructive talks towards a deal,” said Grange.
When he visited the newly opened Trelawny Stadium in 2007, former West Indies cricket captain Brian Lara was so impressed by its picturesque appearance that he promptly declared it an ideal location to host Test cricket. Based on the vision outlined by Grange, those possibilities have rolled back in the endless prospects the stadium is expected to offer.