September celebrations go on without Belize City Center

The City Center will be off limits for this year’s September celebrations.  It is the first time that we can recall that the biggest multipurpose facility in the city will not be opened in one of the busiest periods for entertainment. The sporting facility has been declared structurally unsafe as the venue for numerous activities that are traditionally held during the September festivities. Last Friday, a team of engineers from the Ministry of Works deemed the City Center as unsafe to hold the size of the crowds that the events normally attract. Organizers are scrambling for other locations to hold their planned activities. News Five’s Isani Cayetano found out why it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

The Belize City Center, the old capital’s only multi-purpose sporting facility, has been considered by many an oversized oven since it was constructed more than a decade ago.  The facility has long been used as the venue for concerts, sporting events and commercial expos. Over the years, the complex became synonymous with September Celebrations as it has for generations served as home to many memorable pre-Independence Day Byron Lee concerts, Sound Fests and Queen of the Bay pageants.  This year, however, Belizeans will have to relocate elsewhere as the City Center is out of commission due to fears that it is no longer structurally safe.  Sounding the alarm was Anthony Michael whose office on the ground floor is the headquarters of the National Sports Council.

anthony michael

Anthony Michael, Executive Director, National Sports Council

“I had written to the Ministry of Works before and due to their busy schedules and stuff with flooding happening throughout the country and stuff they found the time out also to come down and do a study for us, a very detailed study. I must applaud them for that effort.  The report has been completed and was submitted to my office on Thursday which I in turn informed my minister the Honorable John Saldivar immediately of the recommendations set forward in that report. The Ministry of Works in their recommendation indicated to us that they would not like to see any concerts that create dynamic forces.  That means significant moving and jumping up to occur until the further strengthening of the Civic Center could be done.”

The outside of the building seems fairly intact but close inspection of beams and other support mechanisms clearly shows that it is only a matter of time before its flooring gives way to gravity.  Engineers are preparing to take on the task of renovating the structure but pageant coordinator Emma Boiton who has been holding the annual Queen of the Bay Pageant at that location for quite sometime has been displaced.

Emma Boiton, Pageant Coordinator

emma boiton

“It has given me a lot of unnecessary work.  The committee and I have had to do a lot of re-planning.  Things that had already been set in place that I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with this week, now I’ve been having a busy time trying to put back, put things into place.”

Boiton is not alone in her discomfort.  Also forced to find a different venue is Sound Fest 2010.  After consulting with Michael organizer Tony Wright has had to book an alternate site for the music showcase.

tony wright

Tony Wright, Organizer, Sound Fest

“We thought maybe a thousand people or so would have been alright so we still gone with it but em all in all what happened was after we saw the condition and talked to him well we couldn’t do nothing much more about that so our next venue definitely had to be Bird’s Isle where over the years people had been telling us why yo noh ker this show da Bird’s Isle, open air and whatnot.  But one of the things why we didn’t do that is because of the condition of weather you know, weather is unpredictable so we have always—whether it rains or not we still always use to have people come out to the show you know so that‘s we were sort of insisting on the Civic.”

Promoters chose the City Center to avoid the elements but the building itself is dilapidating as a result of faulty drainage.  Instead of flowing out into nearby drain water accumulated in the gutters leaks into the upper flat causing the concrete flooring to weaken.  A crossbeam that supports the weight of the flooring is visibly wispy while the roof and the bleachers are also rotting away.

Anthony Michael

“In the past if you could have asked the public who attended some Byron Lee and some other concerts they had indicated from then that they felt some movement on the floor upstairs actually movement and that should not be occurring according to the engineers.”

Isani Cayetano

“For many years, the Belize City Center, Civic as it is commonly known, has been the venue of choice for several activities, including the National Children’s Rally during September celebrations. This year things have taken on a different turn with the closing of this multipurpose facility for urgent repairs.”

The relocation to Bird’s Isle says Boiton is a coincidental return to the birthplace of the Queen of the Bay pageant.

Emma Boiton

“I can remember several pageants taking place there and I know that two or three years ago I went to Vince and check to see if they were making any repairs or what they were doing so that we could go back there.”

Like Boiton, Wright is also hoping that the change of scenery will help to attract a wider audience to this year’s festivities.  Meanwhile, the proposal for the repairs is expected to be forwarded to Cabinet for approval. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.