Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
George Headley Stand with the seating bowl lowered to ground level.
WHEN ALL the renovations at Sabina Park are complete and it is finally time to host the opening ceremony and the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup, Jamaica's premier cricketing ground will also need to ensure that the sponsors of the World Cup and the fans are well taken care of.
Jamaica Cricket World Cup 2007 have guaranteed that the grounds will be clear of third-party advertisements.
This means that there will be no advertisements from any organisation outside of the sponsors within the grounds.
People living within the vicinity of Sabina Park, like Campbell Town, will have to be accredited for the duration of the competition so they can come and go as they please.
"We have to give a clean stadium, free of third-party infringement to the ICC. That is guaranteed. There is a radius around the stadium that also needs to be free of third-party infringements," said Pauline Nelson, communications manager of Jamaica Cricket World
Cup 2007.
When the Jamaican Government was given the task of hosting the World Cup Opening Ceremony and a semi-final match, the question of what location to use was very limited.
Sabina Park was the obvious choice, but the facilities there have, for a long time now, been in need of a face-lift.
LARGER CROWDS
The campus also needed to put on a little weight in anticipation of larger crowds than the Caribbean is used to.
With that prevalent in their minds, Jamaica Cricket World Cup 2007 the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the World Cup, sought to buy land that was needed to expand their northern stand. The Sunday Gleaner was unable to ascertain the exact amount spent to acquire the properties.
However, with that kind of expansion, Sabina Park can hold up to 20,000 screaming fans.
Melbourne Road which lies behind Sabina Park's northern stands was a problem area because there were a number of properties that needed to be bought.
Since that time, all the lands on Melbourne Road that were required to extend the northern stand, amounting to some five properties, have been bought
by Jamaica Cricket World
Cup 2007.
There were other lands surrounding Sabina Park that were needed by Jamaica Cricket World Cup 2007 for which
negotiations have begun.
"All the lands on Melbourne Road have been acquired. If you should pass by you would see that work is already being done. Premises that we need to use like Emmet Park (to the Western end of the ground), we are leasing those facilities for the duration of the tournament," Nelson said.
