BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE makeover of the Warner Park Cricket Stadium is well underway as the foundation for a large video scoreboard was laid and is expected to be followed by the installation of lights.
Speaking with SKNVibes, Senior Sports Officer in the Ministry of Sports Vernon Springer gave an update on the work currently underway.
“The Warner Park Cricket Project is off and running. We started with the installation of the scoreboard foundation. The screen is going to be 44 feet by 20 feet and is the fifth of its kind in the world and the first in the Caribbean.
“We are pleased that the folks have started the work. The poles have already been started and the concrete has already been put in place. Work started on Wednesday, last and the foundation itself will take 24 days for the concrete to set.”
He noted that work on the project was delayed due to shipping problems of imported materials.
“During that time we have a number of stuff still coming in. The generator should arrive this week then we will also have light fixtures also going to be coming in.
“The project was delayed by five to six weeks...no fault of the government of St. Kitts and Nevis but because of shipment reasons. The poles, for example, had to be custom-made and by the time they came from the USA they had to go to the Bahamas and there was a delay.”
Springer however added that he is unsure of a timeline for completion but promised that the workers would take advantage of the weather.
“In terms of the timeline, I can’t tell you for sure about that but we are trying to make sure what we do is to grab the best of the weather and execute by making sure that we get the lights up as needed.”
He further stated that selected groups would be trained to use the new equipment after it has been installed.
“When we are installing the scoreboard itself, we will have a crew that will undergo some training and they are going to be here from the inception when the screen is being installed.
“We are empowering people in St. Kitts and Nevis to the point that they feel a part of what is happening. The crew that the Ministry of Sports is going to establish is going to be responsible for that. We are also going to have four other scoreboards out of the main scoreboard and they will be on the lights.”
He added that the new screen would create opportunities for the venue to host other activities besides cricket.
“We might be looking to show international football games here, and you know we normally host the St. Kitts Music Festival here. With the new screen, it can provide more ambience to the venue.
“The video scoreboard would be used for many activities. We have a wide cross section of people here. We could have the NFL Finals and the NBA Finals. We have the World Cup Football coming up. You also have the IPL Finals.
“You have so many activities coming up that you can show outside of cricket .You have the Olympic Finals in 2016 and Jason Rogers might be in that and we can look at the race. There are wide opportunities for the lights and new scoreboard in Warner Park.”
Springer disclosed that the government of St. Kitts and Nevis is funding the entire project.
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