The management of Peculiar Ultimate Concerns, construction company handling remodeling of Lekan Salami Sporting Complex in Ibadan has said they are putting finishing torches on the project so as to meet up with the date
Oyo state Governor Engineer ‘Seyi Makinde who awarded the project in August 2020 at N5.3b said few weeks ago that the stadium would be commission in September.
Engineer Femi James, Project Manager while conducting journalist round the facilities disclosed that the sporting complex is positioned as the best stadium in Africa because they meet up with the requirements of the International football regulatory agency Fédération Internationale de Football Association FIFA.
According to him, some of the facilities are not just modern but of quality standard, we are using FIFA Standard because governor Makinde insisted on making this stadium a model for others on the world
Explaining the level of job done so far Eng James said ” For the mainbowl where we are right now, we are ready for commissioning. The pitch is ready, the changing rooms are ready, the seats are also ready as we can all see, the indoor sports, the courts, the gymnasium, the courts, the administrative blocks will also be completed by Saturday.
“When we came in, the mainbowl where we are standing right now had an artificial turf, which is against the requirement of the FIFA. So, we are now putting in a natural turf. The spectator stand of the mainbowl also had no roof, but now, we have roof over it. The tartan track was not also there when we came in, but we now have it here.
“Before now, the mainbowl had just two changing rooms, which were not up to standard but, as we speak now, we have four large changing rooms. We have a studio and VAR room. These were not in place before.
“The indoor sports hall, administrative blocks are all being renovated. Their services were all gone but right now, their services have been put in place – windows, tiles, painting and the rest.
“We are also resurfacing the Tennis Court, Handball Court and other courts. Now, there are two new projects we are coming up with – the centre Court for Tennis, which was not in existence before. It is a new construction. We also have a composite building, which houses wrestling, boxing, kick-boxing and gymnastic. It is totally a new project.
The swimming pool we met on ground was not functional.the site is not conducive and the swimming pool itself does not meet International standard so we are constructing a new swimming pool entirely.
“Where we had the swimming pool, we are bringing five aside and a multi-purpose outdoor court, which will serve handball, basketball, volleyball. It is going to be a multipurpose court. So, the existing stand there is going to be extended and we are going to construct a new stand to serve those new games that we are putting there.
Also, when we came in, the score board we met on ground was not functioning. So, we have a brand new scoreboard. The floodlights we met on ground were not functioning. We have four new floodlights that we are just constructing also
He equally disclosed that after the commissioning, the other places like the swimming pool, the training pitch, the multipurpose court will be commissioned by December. So, by December 2021, everything in the sports complex will be ready for use
On the measure put in place to ensure maintainance of the project, Mr James said “We are making a proposal for the contractor to stay back for about a year, for maintenance during which we would have trained in-house hands that will carry on from wherever we stop after that one year.
The acting Genery Manager of Crown Football Club Ogbomoso Mr Kunle Oyeleye who was also at the stadium during the tour commended Governor Makinde for his genuine commitment and passion for youth and sports development in the state
