NASSAU, The Bahamas — The Bahamas Government held a contract signing and groundbreaking ceremony for the redevelopment of the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, Wednesday, April 20. During the ceremony, Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham explained that the completion of all phases of the redevelopment of the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre is likely to take many years. “Today, we begin two phases of a five phase overall Development Plan,” Prime Minister Ingraham said.
“These phases of the redevelopment works are essential to make operational and useable the new Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium – now scheduled for completion in June.” Bahamas Hot Mix Co Ltd and Bahamas Marine Construction were awarded the contract at a cost of $48.5 million for the redevelopment.
They submitted their winning bid under a joint venture partnership. The winning bid was said to be five per cent below the engineer’s estimate for construction. Minister of Public Works and Transport the Hon. Neko Grant; Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture the Hon. Charles Maynard; Minister of National Security the Hon. Tommy Turnquest and Minister of Environment the Hon. Earl Deveaux were also in attendance at the ceremony.
Prime Minister Ingraham said following upon the decision of the Government’s predecessors, five firms were invited to submit proposals and bids for the redevelopment of the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre. He noted that the gift from the Chinese Government of the national stadium was exclusive of all the works outside of the stadium, inclusive of utilities, parking and road access.
“We advertised publicly for firms to submit tenders for a Master Plan for the redevelopment of the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre.”
Prime Minister Ingraham said five firms were shortlisted from all those submitting bids and a panel of experts determined the winning bid. The winners of the competitive bidding exercise were Nick Dean and Kevin Sweeting and the IBS and IBI teams and they were awarded the job to produce a Master Plan for the development of the entire remaining 450 acres of land at the Sports Centre.
Prime Minister Ingraham explained that phase 1A and AB of the development will result in:
An enhanced entrance with parks and open green spaces leading from Thompson Boulevard to the Sports Centre, which will be linked to the Tonique Williams-Darling Highway along an enhanced Yellow Elder Way;
A new road extending from a new round about at the Government High School that will link the QE Sports Centre with the New Providence Highway now referred to as Bethel Avenue;
An extension of Moss Road will link Thompson Boulevard and Blue Hill Road, while a new connector road will link Moss Road to the round-about at the Government High School;
And Considerable new parking areas, drainage systems and landscaping throughout the entire area.
“I firmly believe that when completed, these works will result in our having one of the finest, if not the finest sporting facility in our region – for the benefit and enjoyment of our young and not so young people,” Prime Minister Ingraham said.
“The works also include water and sewage upgrades to neighbouring residential communities, notably at Yellow Elder and Millennium Gardens, specifically the Waste Water Treatment Plant; and electrical services for the surrounding communities are also being upgraded – through the installation of new underground utility lines.”
He said the works will not only complement the operations of the new National Stadium and augment the development of the Sports Centre, they will also contribute to the Government’s goal of transforming the landscape of New Providence and providing residents and visitors with modern and reliable infrastructure and utility services.
“It should not be lost on any of us that enhanced sporting facilities hold considerable potential for other and additional benefits to our country, namely the growth in sports tourism; potential new revenue sources to the benefit of sport and the increased opportunities for additional sports development,” Prime Minister Ingraham said.
By Llonella Gilbert
Bahamas Information Services
