By Robert A. Emmanuel
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It could be a while before construction of the highly touted National Aquatic Centre actually gets going as the government said that several processes need to be approved.
On 14 December 2022, government officials and members of the Antigua and Barbuda Swimming Federation (ABSF) were present at the ground-breaking ceremony where Prime Minister Browne touted that construction would begin “within a week or two” claiming that the event was a “hard” ground-breaking.
However, two months after the ceremony, very little work has been done at the site which is in the vicinity of the Sir Novelle Richards Academy on Sir Sydney Walling Highway.
At last week’s post-Cabinet press briefing, Cabinet spokesperson Melford Nicholas provided some details as to the delay.
“To say that the project has started does not necessarily mean that the hole ‘where the pool will sit’ has be extracted in the first instance.
“Projects such as these will go through the normal approval process, so the construction drawings will have to rendered and submitted for approval to the [Development Control Authority].
“It is not a question of if there is adequate funding for it because there is; if there is commitment from the government because there is; if there is land available because there is; so…the project is in process,” Minister Nicholas stated.
The aquatic centre will feature a 25-meter 10-lane competition pool with a warm-up pool, a gym, two spectator stands with a 600-person capacity, and facilities for both male and female competitors, shown during the presentation by architect Chad Knight Alexander
Minister Nicholas said while the project plans were shown during the event in December, the architectural rendition is not the final step in the process.
“Ordinarily, even when we are dealing with large hotel projects, there are architectural renditions in terms of the façade of what the final product may look like.
“But beyond that they have to reduce those types of images to construction drawings in terms of how all those detailed things that the DCA will normally look at … and so those things have to be developed behind what had been presented to you,” he indicated.
However, Nicholas could not give an exact timeline as to when work could begin in earnest.
“It is an iterative process, meaning that one drawing may be recommended and there may be requirements for them to redesign and resubmit, so I cannot put a final point on it,” he said.
The ABSF has been lobbying for a new swimming facility for more than a decade which was accelerated after the government decided in 2017 to jointly purchase the Sticky Wicket Cricket Grounds in Coolidge with Cricket West Indies, which included the pool at the Antigua Athletic Club once utilised for local swim meets.
The Aquatic Centre was promoted in December as the place where young Antiguans and Barbudans can develop their swimming skills and talents in a space of international standard.
