Renovation work completed on Albion Community Centre

Nov 26, 2013 Sports

 
– permanent lights next major projects

The Albion Community Centre received a face lift with rehabilitation work being done to the once prestigious sport facility which was once touted among the best in the country.

The Albion Community Centre commentary booth and sight screen that was recently spruced up.

Renovation work has been completed on the Commentators Booth and the two sight screens to make them more spacious and habitable in anticipation for the influx of cricketing and other sporting activities planned to take place at the centre. The work was undertaken as a joint venture project between the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce (CCCC), the Albion Estate which provided the labour and popular Corentyne Businessman Shane Balram of the Balram Shane Store in Rose Hall, Corentyne.
The businessman, who also organises a yearly fund raising cricket venture, uses most of the funds raised to pour back into the rehabilitation of the venue. The Community Centre has of recent times been neglected with some of the structures around the ground in need of repairs. As such the CCCC took the initiative to spearhead the rehabilitation venture.
The world famous Albion Sports Complex, as it is also known, was the venue for the first ever one day international cricket match in the West Indies which was played on the 16th March, 1977 between West Indies and Pakistan. The venue which was one of the premiere cricketing venues in Guyana in tandem with Bourda, has hosted a number of one-day games, but it’s been more than two decades now that an international game has not been played there.
The venue boosts a number of stands and pavilions and can accommodate over 15,000 spectators.
The community center will soon see the installation of permanent lights at the venue which will enhance its night activities.  The lights, which will be similar to those installed at the National Stadium, are expected to bring back the international flair to the venue.  This work is set to commence shortly.
In the past, the Berbice Cricket Board, the Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Development Association (BCCDA), Republic Bank in Berbice along with the CCCC and a number of other organisations have contributed to the upkeep of the venue. (Samuel Whyte)