Herb McKenley Stadium on the way

By Tony Becca, Senior Sport Editor

McKenley

ABOUT 20 years after the late Dr. Abner Wright, then Custos of Clarendon, made his first attempt to build a stadium in the parish, comes the news a stadium in Clarendon will soon be a reality.

The dream of Member of Parliament Mike Henry, the stadium will be built on 41 acres in Hazeldene in central Clarendon, work is scheduled to get under way next year, and it will be named "The Herb McKenley Stadium" in honour of Clarendon's most famous son and one of Jamaica's greatest heroes.

Estimated to cost about $200 million, the stadium will accommodate football, athletics, boxing, basketball and netball. A netball court is already in place.

The development will be done in phases as follows:

Phase One - stadium wall, final grading of field and creation of ponds, erection of changing rooms, base for running track.

Phase Two - laying of Mondo track, erection of administrative building, beautification, parking lot.

Phase Three - erection of stands to seat 15,000 and lights.

Phase four - basketball hall and boxing gym.

Funding for the project will be provided by Jamalco, the Sports Development Foundation, donations and through fund-raising projects organised by the development committee whose members include William Shagoury - chairman, Jukie Chin - deputy chairman, Jim Thomas, Dr. Winston Dawes, Dr. Edward Wright, and a representative of Jamalco.

Jamalco's pledge is to match, up to $3.5 million a year, funds collected by the committee.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, MP Henry said that through Jamalco and other sponsors $8 million was already in hand, $8 million a year was guaranteed for the next five years, and based on his efforts to acquire funding from local and overseas sources, based on the plans of the committee and the interest displayed by the government, he has no doubt the money would be raised to complete the stadium.

"This is the beginning of a dream I hope will be realised - I know will be realised," said Henry. "There is a lot of talk about building stadiums and who should do it. Well, we in Clarendon are doing it, and we are doing it with the help of government and the private sector. We are building something that will be worthy of the person after whom we are naming it.

"We hope it will represent the kind of contribution Herb McKenley has made to sport in Jamaica and in extension to the world."

According to Henry, who said that he has made it clear to the committee that nothing be named after him, different parts of the stadium will be named after people from the parish who have been involved in sport and who have made a substantial contribution.

In a touching reply, McKenley, one of the greatest athletes of all time, not only thanked Henry and the committee for the honour bestowed on him, but he also talked about the value and the importance of sport.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am very, very honoured that this stadium is being named after me, but that is not what is important. What is important is that it is being built for sport.

"I don't know how many of you, how many Jamaicans, how many people really appreciate the value, the strength, the character of sport. It is great. Sport is a great instrument - an instrument for good, for love, for inspiration and motivation."

Among those who also spoke at the launch were Howard Aris - chairman of the SDF, Pat Anderson - president of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association, Jimmy Carnegie - director of the Jamaica Olympic Association and Mrs Blossom Laidlaw of Jamalco.

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