By: Eric Eli Adzie
The deteriorated Ho Sports Stadium has been closed down by authorities for renovation works.
The edifice which serves as a regional facility was constructed in 1957 but has since not seen any form of rehabilitation.
The grass on the playing field has over grown, bad drainage system, lack of sitting spaces, cracks in the stands.
In a press release by the Volta Regional Sports Authority to announce the closure, Madam Vivian Douglour the acting Regional Sports Director stated that it has become necessary to give the stadium a major facelift.
“The Ho sports stadium which was once amount the best sporting facility in the country with the most preferred pitch has gradually become a shadow of its self. The stadium currently the only standard facility in the region and hosts major sporting activities has seen little maintenance to commensurate it usage hence the rapidly deteriorating state,” she said.
“Management of the Volta Regional Sports Authority is highly determined to take steps towards the renovation of the facility so as to improve upon its current state to an appreciable standard for utilization by the populace.”
“Works expected to be done include re-grassing the pitch and tracks, improving the poor drainage system, completion of changing rooms and rebuilding of the broken wall at the northern end of the stadium. These decisions have become necessary as these conditions in the stadium increasingly threatening to both staff and users as it has become a habitation for marijuana smokers, dumping of refuse and an open place for lavatory.”
Works on the stadium is expected to commence on Monday 16 March 2015 and will last for a minimum of six months.
It is further understood these works will be carried out with the support of individual and corporate institution whiles the promise made by the ruling government to give another ultra modern stadium to Volta region remains a goose chase.