The Jean Pierre Complex – the national netball and multi-sport facility – will be torn down and rebuilt.
Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe confirmed the longstanding facility has finally run its course and must be reconstructed.
The complex is, so far, the only sporting venue given demolition orders while several other local stadia and arenas are queueing up for a comprehensive facelift.
Cudjoe was speaking at Friday’s signing-off on TT’s confirmation as host nation for the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG), held at the Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva.
The nation’s mecca of sport, Hasely Crawford Stadium, which sits on the same compound as the Jean Pierre Complex in Port of Spain, is also being assessed for the extent of work to be done on its structure.
“For Jean Pierre Complex and Hasely Crawford Stadium, there is a school of thought that the latter could be refurbished. But we know definitely Jean Pierre has to come down. It’s not safe to have people go into the pavilions, and so on,” Cudjoe said.
The complex was not reopened for sporting activity when pandemic restrictions were lifted in February owing to ongoing structural assessments.
Since the venue was opened in 1979 to host the World Netball Championship, there has never been any major structural rehabilitation.
Cudjoe said the complex is in dire need of a total overhaul and its infrastructure is “outdated.”
“The tricky thing about it is that these facilities were built over 40 years ago, and the work as it relates to plumbing and so on, is done underground, so there’s problems with that.
“The water supply, among other issues causes us to now have to really dig up and get down to the bottom (building foundation) before you fix it.”
The complex is the official home of TT netball but is also used for basketball, volleyball, table tennis, badminton and other sports.
Newsday recently visited the sports venue which is in a visible state of disrepair. Derelict playing courts, broken furniture and electrical, leaky spots, non-functional bathroom facilities are among a lengthy list of internal and external structural issues there.
The complex is named after Eugenia "Jean" Pierre who starred for the 1979 TT team that shared the World Championship with Australia and New Zealand. She later became minister of sport from 1991-95.
The Sport Company of TT (SporTT) is responsible for the construction and upgrade of recreation grounds for community-level sport and physical activity, as well as the operation and maintenance of high-quality sport facilities for national and elite athletes.
Its chairman Douglas Camacho said, on Saturday, knocking down and rebuilding the complex is part of its plans. The complex, like several others facilities built decades ago, is in need of modern restructuring.
“There were engineering assessments being done on it to determine whether it should come down or not. Because it’s a very dated stadium. It was built in a time, fashion and style that they would hardly do nowadays.
“In th
