media_artricles :: 2013

Eddie Hart upgrade critically necessary

While there has been a lot of noise about the loss of green space at the Eddie Hart Grounds and Golden Grove Savannah, I wonder if the residents are thinking about the young ones, or just being emotional and fearing change which is so feared in T&T. George Bernard Shaw once said that: “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” I am getting the feeling that this is the problem in the East. The development of the area known as the Eddie Hart Grounds and Golden Grove Savannah into a regional sporting centre/ground is one that has been in the making for the past 10 years but only now coming to fruition. So having heard all the noise about what should and should not be done to the areas in question, I decided to walk across to the SPORTT company on Henry Street to get an understanding of what is planned.

When I left, I was converted and I am sorry, if the people of the area who are opposed to this development are aware of what is planned, then they can only be ‘backward thinkers’.

Let me address some of the concerns that have surfaced. One of the major one is that people are saying that the savannah represents a special space for family and most families in the community because it has served to hold the community together. I was told that all of the areas on the Western end of the facility including the play park, recreation/picnic area, jogging track and Cricket Field will not be fenced and will therefore encourage community use as currently obtains. The only proposed fenced areas will be the football field and its surrounding athletic training track as well as the indoor facility. These are the only areas that will require some level of formal scheduling for structured sporting events, but as part of the daily operation, citizens will be free to access and use these amenities at any time. Following recent consultations there were concerns raised by interest groups and current users of the savannah/grounds about the destruction of green space to erect concrete structures. However, almost 85 percent of total area under development will be grassed, I am told.

In order to address other key areas of concern, the following adjustments have been proposed by SPORTT. These adjustments include, phasing of construction to minimise interruption to ongoing sporting activities, increased width and length of jogging/running track to accommodate the large volume of casual athletes, use of eco-friendly, permeable materials for the car park for drainage purposes and preservation of water sources in the construction phase and the conservation of energy in the facility’s operation. Due to the small ratio of the proposed paved areas to the overall area, the impact of these works on aquifer recharge was considered negligible and all WASA stations have been maintained in the proposed design. The investigation of a softer paved surface as mentioned in the previous point will also remove this concern as percolation will be allowed through this surface. The Sports Company of T&T is mandated to develop this sporting hub to accommodate multi-purpose sporting surfaces and amenities. The purpose of this regional centre is to make quality surfaces more easily accessible to nationals wanting to participate in formal/informal sporting activities, up and coming athletes through community clubs and groups, while retaining green spaces for casual recreational users, in a safe environment.

The proposed facilities that is sure to benefit everyone are as follows: An international standard football field on the east ground with stadium lighting. An athletics track on the east ground with lighting. A 900-seat covered pavilion, with dedicated changing facilities for players, public toilets and concessionaire spaces. An indoor sporting facility building that will contain: a 25m swimming pool, an open gymnasium area, an aerobics and spin class area, a boxing and martial arts area, a multi-purpose court, a squash area, administrative offices, a change room, shower and toilet facilities. An international standard cricket field on the west ground with stadium lighting. A dedicated jogging path on the east ground with lighting. Two (2) small goal football courts with lighting and a children’s play park with equipment. As a sports journalist, I have encountered many sporting officials and athletes and time and time again they talk about lack of facilities.

They make one trip outside this country and come back and criticise in their words ‘our backwardness’. Here is a situation where SPORTT in taking the athletes into the first world and yet we rather oppose and just hinder necessary progress. Let’s hope that good sense prevails and sport in this country can continue to move upward.

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