Track meet to officially open Montego Bay stadium

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

The $1.4-billion Catherine Hall Stadium in Montego Bay is slated to be officially opened during the staging of the second Western Primary Schools' Invitational Track Meeting, slated for the new facility on Saturday, June 5, starting at 9 a.m.

Speaking at yesterday's launch of the primary schools' meet, which will feature over 20 schools from western Jamaica, guest speaker Lenworth Tracey, deputy general manager of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), said the meet will be an integral part of the opening ceremony.

"The meet will mark the official opening ceremony of this stadium," said Tracey. "I can confirm that Prime Minister Bruce Golding and the ambassador for Venezuela (Noel Martinez-Ochoa) will be in attendance."

According to meet director Albert Ferguson, while the meet will start at 9, the official opening ceremony will not take place until 11 a.m.

Golding is expected to declare open the stadium, which was initially slated to feature 20,000 seats but was subsequently reduced to a mere 8,000 seats.

20 schools confirmed

The meeting, which featured 16 schools in last year's inaugural staging, already has 20 schools confirmed for this year and according to Ferguson, another four have expressed an interest in participating but are yet to submit their entries.

"Our plan is to move from strength to strength each year," said Ferguson. "Last year, we had 16 teams; this year we will have a minimum of 20, and hopefully, come next year, we might be looking to change from a one-day to a two-day meeting."

Listed among the schools already confirmed are defending champions Petersfield of Westmoreland, Montego Bay's Cornaldi Avenue, which finished second, and third-place finisher Mount Ward of Hanover.

While there is some amount of disappointment because its limited seating capacity does not allow for the hosting of major international events, Tracey said it was an important addition to Montego Bay's landscape, since it was offering something that never previously existed - a standard international running track.

While all major works have been completed on the new stadium, Tracey pointed out that additional work to include the installation of floodlights will come in a subsequent phase.