BVIFA SIGN DRAINAGE WORKS AGREEMENT
The BVI Football Association headed by President Andrew Bickerton have accepted a tender by the firm Tarris Hill Associates to build the foundation of the football multipurpose stadium in Greenlands. In signing of the contract director of Tarris Hill, Mr Zane Potter, has agreed to complete and maintain the said foundation within a six months period. The contact signing was witnessed by President Bickerton in the presence of the assistant secretary of the BVIFA Miss Jahtoya Rodriquez, in absence of the General Secretary Mrs Juliana Luke, and the representative for the 8th district the Honourable Marlon Penn.
Engineer and Project Manager in the building of the multipurpose Stadium Mr Dion Stoutt , confirmed that Tarris and Associates have agreed to complete the contact in no later than 180 days, which would include weekends and holiday but excluding days in which the weather inhibited work on the project. Tarris also understood and agreed that any days beyond the agreed period of completion would be the responsibility of his firm and not the BVIFA. In a short interview project manager Stoutt, who was also present for the signing, stated he was pleased to see that they are approaching the final stages of a very long project. “It has been a long road and there is no doubt that this will benefit not only the BVI Football Association but the East End Community and the territory at large for generations to come, so we must not take this undertaking lightly but rather we should be very proud of our achievements.” Said Mr Stoutt.
Representative of the 8th district the Honourable Marlon Penn said, “ This is very important project to the East End community. We are at a critical stage now where we have officially signed the contract to build the structure for the facility which I am very excited about. We foresee this stage of the project going into June, by which time we would have the actual foundation done and there from we would then build the actual stadium which will house the Olympic Committee, the BVI Football Association plus have all the amenities to support the facility in the East End , Long Look Community.”
Honourable Penn continued to say, “We foresee this facility as being a huge socio economic boost not just for football but for the entire community. We see the potential for all the residents in that area, from the restaurants, the bars, the guest houses plus the potential to build additional facilities to accommodate what we see as Sports Tourism. We are looking also to expand where we will have a six lane 400 metre track which will double as a world class facility for athletes in serious training to ensure the development of our youths in the surrounding area. There will be multiple opportunities derived from having football in the area such as scholarship opportunities for young persons who will be playing plus those who may go on to become professional players. Overall there is a lot of interest and enthusiasm in the sport and that works well for us as we move forward, and that facility comes to completion soon.”
Director for Tarris Hill Associates, Zane Potter stated that they were contracted by BVFA to do what he terms as phase one of the foundation and some elements of the upper part of the stadium. He confirmed that his firm would not be doing any of the finished work on the stadium which would be in a different stage. He anticipates that the work should take approximately six months and with work just about to begin, should be finished around the end of June. Potter said, “ As the project manager of this phase for Tarris Hill Associates and someone who also lives in the community, I feel this is a positive thing for the East End, Long Look community and also for the BVI on a whole. The completion of this project will highlight sports for the youth and emphasise other elements of our society in terms of sports tourism plus other factors that will impact the economy and the BVI.”
President Bickerton , who has been pushing this project for the past four years said “After the delays caused by Hurricane Irma, we are very pleased to get the project going again. Having won the tender, Tarris Hill have committed to a tight time frame to finish the stand foundation. This should enable us to move on to the offices, seating and overall infrastructure later in the year. This project has taken time but will this facility will be the platform for the young players the BVI FA are producing to showcase their talent on the international stage as we continue on wards to our goal of targeting the 2026 World Cup.”