PM Skerrit reveals plans to upgrade lighting system at Windsor Park Sports Stadium

Dominica: In a significant development, Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit announced that his administration is engaging with the supplier of a lighting system to upgrade the lighting at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium.

The development was announced recently during a press conference. He said that since the passage of Hurricane Maria in 2017, which caused major damages to the stadium, the government has invested more than $8 million to upgrade it, including repairing the stadium roof as well as installing a new electronic scoreboard.

The Prime Minister outlined that the lighting of the Windsor Park will be upgraded soon as the Ministry of Sports is continuing to engage with the supplier of the system so he hopes that the administration can come at a conclusion on this and the Ministry will advise the cabinet about the contractual amounts and engagement so that they can install the lights in the Stadium. He added that the Government is committed to this and announced that on December 29, 2023, an EC$2.4 million dollar contract was signed to restore the system at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium. The contract was signed between the Government of Dominica and Watson Canoville of C&J Electrical Services. The contract was to install six new poles/light towers to suit the requirements of nighttime local, regional as well as international sporting events to be held in the Commonwealth of Dominica, at that time, the Government anticipated that the work will be done within three months of signing the contract.

Minister of Sports Oscar George also addressed the press conference and said that the site will be qualified to stage international cricket matches even during the evening, and the upgraded lighting system will ensure that.

Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary Lucien Blackmoore also gave an overview of the project and said that the Stadium has four poles of which two were totally damaged by Hurricane Maria and two remain standing but the lighting apparatus itself is in a dysfunctional state and the location of them at present is not right for cricket matches.

He added that this is why the previous towers will have to be taken down and dismantled, following which they will be re-erected and placed eight meters further back from their current position.

The installation of lights will enhance the overall stadium and ensure that international matches are hosted in Dominica.