Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/3745/-1/127/
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Football Stadium To Start Soon
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The building contract for the football stadium in Anguilla has been sent to FIFA in Switzerland for approval and work on the sports facility at the Webster Park annex is scheduled to commence over the coming weeks.
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Nat Hodge interviews Mr. Guishard
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This was disclosed by President of the Anguilla Football Association, Raymond Guishard. The work is to be undertaken by Vincent Proctor’s Construction Company which is now engaged in building the auditorium at Campus B.
Mr. Guishard said the cost of the football stadium would be in the area of US$1,200,000. Of that sum, US$400,000 is being provided by FIFA; the Anguilla Football Association has committed itself to over US$500,000 and ways and means of obtaining the rest are being pursued, with the Anguilla Government being one of the sources.
One of the early problems the Football Association faced was to get US $1,000,000 of insurance coverage as stipulated by FIFA. “We had to get a number of things before we could have sent off the contract. Since we got back from Germany, we spent days working on getting everything for the contract,” Guishard stated. “FIFA is an international organisation working in many countries. In Anguilla we might not have problems but in some of the countries there are some problems so FIFA plays it safe wherever it goes so it insisted that the contractor should have this insurance.” The Association has had to pay another US$18,000 to purchase the insurance coverage locally. The relevant documents have also been sent to FIFA.
In the meantime, an area of the site for the building is being fenced in which to stockpile some of the building material, 80 percent of which should be imported during the course of next month. The steel frame will come from Trinidad and will be erected by workers from there. Proctor’s Construction will then lay all the blocks for the building.
Guishard said the building would be the first phase “of a centre of excellence” providing all the facilities for football teams. There will be “a warm-up exercise room” inside the building so that by the time the teams go outside they would already been prepared for play. There will be many bathroom facilities and changing rooms; a medical room, a VIP room and a sports shop area.
Asked what impact the football stadium will have on the sport and players, Mr. Guishard replied: “It will lift the spirits of everybody and provide a place for people to go after work to watch football.”
Ground was broken for the football stadium in October last year. The delay of the start of the construction work has been questioned by a number of youngsters eager to see the provision of the sports facility. The information provided by the President of the Football Association should answer some of their questions.