Hopewell's $80m sports complex now open

Western Bureau::

The newly constructed $80 million Hopewell Sports, Homework and Community Centre in Hanover is now up and running. The facility had its official opening last Friday.

The impressive building, which features several offices, meeting area, homework area, computer room, kitchen, bathroom facilities and a boxing gym is the largest project ever undertaken by the non-profit charitable organisation Hanover Charities, which was supported in its efforts by other entities, including the Lennox Lewis League of Champions Foundation.

The facility will be managed and operated by a committee comprising several community members alongside the Hopewell Chapter of Junior Chamber International. The boxing gym will be operated by the Lennox Lewis League of Champions Foundation.

"When entities, organisations and individuals come together with a shared vision, good things are bound to happen," said Dave Brown, the member of parliament for Eastern Hanover, the constituency in which the multi-purpose facility is located.

In encouraging community members to take good care of the facility, keynote speaker at the ceremony, Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall, who is a product of Hanover, said that the facility represents a successful partnership, grounded in the needs of the parish.

"We expect, therefore, that this initiative will create and enhance social connections between different sectors of the community, and thereby build a cohesive, safer, and stronger community," Hall said.

The opening of the facility does not signal an end to the project. The football field is to be resurfaced and lights will be put in at a later date.