Barbados National Stadium

Barbados National Stadium is a multi-use outdoor stadium in Waterford, St. Michael, Barbados. Occupying a 22-acre site, it was officially opened on 23 October 1970 by Prince Charles.[1] Situated approximately 4.3 km northeast of central Bridgetown, it is located at Stadium Road, Codrington, St. Michael (on Highway 2). The Stadium is currently used mostly for football matches.

Barbados National Stadium
LocationWaterford, St. Michael, Barbados
Coordinates13.120°N 59.605°W / 13.120; -59.605
OwnerGovernment of Barbados
OperatorNational Sports Council (1 Feb 1978–Present)
National Stadium Corporation (5 May 1966–31 Jan 1978)
Capacity15,000
SurfaceTrack and field
Construction
Built1968-1970
Opened1970
Tenants
Notre Dame SC

The stands are named after Barbadian athletes: the Clarence Jemmott "A" Stand, the O'Donnell "Don" Norville "B" Stand, the VIP Stand, the James "Jim" Wedderburn "C" Stand, the Patricia "Patsy" Callender "D" Stand and also there is the Randolph Fields Velodrome and the Christie Smith Gate, the Reginal Haynes Gate, and the Jaycees Gate at the north side of the Stadium.

In 2006, FIFA condemned the national football stadium of Barbados as unfit for purpose, as little improvement or repair had been made to it since it had opened in 1970, though the country was hoping to demolish the existing stands and rebuild the ground before its 2010 World Cup qualification campaign begins.[2] In 2011 the Barbadian government estimated the cost to re-engineer the stadiums' running track at 2 million dollars.[3] No date has been determined when the funding could be sourced or the works could be carried out. But Barbados' past World Championships in Athletics gold-medalist Ryan Brathwaite has publicly condemned the current state of the National Stadiums' track infrastructure. In 2010 the stadium started hosting the Joseph Payne Memorial Classic, a competitive event among Barbadian secondary school students.[4] The National Stadium's five stands were closed in April 2015 because of the rusty pieces of debris which fell from the steel which stood underneath the roofs. From December 2018 to January 2019, the roofs on all the five stands were removed and soon the whole of the Stadium would soon be demolished. It will soon be constructed into a brand new stadium with new stands, car parks and new LED stadium lights as soon as possible.

See also

References
  1. "Sports". Government of Barbados. Archived from the original on 13 November 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  2. "Barbados: Government Still Looking At Redevelopment Of National Stadium" (Press release). Caribbean PressReleases.com. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  3. Marville, Justin (28 January 2011). "$2m hurdle". Nation Newspaper. Archived from the original on 29 January 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  4. "500 entries for Classic meet". Nation News. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2012.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.