High cost stalls lighting at GC Foster College
Published:Saturday | March 4, 2023 | 1:06 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
FOLLOWING the 2023 staging of the Central Athletics Championships, the issue of lighting at G.C. Foster College is again being discussed.
Chester McCarthy, athletics director at the sports college, said following what he termed an ‘excellent’ track meet which was highlighted by the close finish on the girls’ side of the event, talks are being held to install lighting at the Spanish Town-based institution.
The very exciting Central Championships saw defending girls’ champion Edwin Allen High being crowned winners on Thursday evening but dropped to second following an overnight review of the results.
“It was an excellent (track) meet and the final result ended up so close that one winner was declared on Thursday evening, then on Friday morning that was changed by 0.5 point on the female side between Hydel High and Edwin Allen High,”McCarthy said.
McCarthy said the process of erecting the proper lighting has already started but due to the high cost associated with it, the process has been stalled. Currently, he believes the lighting is good enough for track and field activities to be conducted but would cause a difficulty for television broadcast.
“A decision was taken for us to look at the whole lighting set-up and we’ve started the process but based on cost we will not actually finish the upgrading of our lighting, for now, around the track. However, we’ve started by putting in 60-foot poles, so we can erect lighting at the right height position, and the right types of light for night activities and television coverage. As it is now, we would have light that can facilitate running in the night but not well enough for video capture,” McCarthy stated.
According to Vishu Tolan, chairman of the board of governors at G.C. Foster College, it would cost approximately $15 -20 million to install proper lights at the venue.
“The track, as you know, is a certified World Athletics track so we need to able to run in the evening and have meets under lights. That now is a major infrastructure cost. We we are looking at anywhere between $15 and 20 million to put up lights on the track,” Tolan said.