Jamaican Sports Minister Olivia Grange has announced that redevelopment work at Kingston’s National Stadium facility will begin early next year.
Last year, the Jamaican government signed a contract with Apec Consultants to investigate extensive redevelopment of the National Stadium and Trelawny Stadium. Apec was tasked with developing financial proposals for the redevelopment, expansion and upgrading of the two stadia.
The National Stadium serves as Jamaica’s main venue for athletics and football and has a capacity of 35,000. There are plans to add an extra 10,000 seats to the venue, which opened in 1962, and Grange is hopeful work can begin in 2021 after Apec submitted its report to the Public Investment Management Secretariat.
“Based on the schedule we will be starting construction early next year,” Grange said, according to the SportsMax website. “They (the consultants) are looking at a concept where the national stadium will be covered, the seats are going to be taken out and new seats put in. There will be about 10,000 new seats in the national stadium.
“The velodrome will be removed and a new one will be built within the complex. The sports museum, we will be taking in that whole section where the Bob Marley statue is, for the sports museum to be part of the complex.”
Other amenities being considered for the complex include a concert hall and anti-doping facilities, along with event space to enable the stadium to host small functions.
Grange added that plans are also in the works for Trelawny Stadium to enable the cricket-focused stadium to host baseball games in the future.
Image: Jonathan Daduut
