By Athane Scholtz Garden Route Correspondent
THE George municipality is to invite private developers to build a 35 000-seater soccer stadium to be used for practice matches during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
George ward councillor Grobbie Grobler said the 44-hectare complex, to be the biggest in the Southern Cape, was part of the municipality‘s plan to develop George into a major sports tourism destination.
The stadium announcement follows the launch recently of a serious bid by the municipality to host a participating nation as a training base during the World Cup.
“The municipality has set aside municipal land that would be made available for tender with the specific purpose of building a pre-designed sport complex. The piece of land, which is next to the N2 highway just off the Pacaltsdorp turn-off, will be valued to determine the starting price for tenders.”
The municipality will invite private companies to build the complex in exchange for the land.
Grobler said the council had drawn up a preliminary plan of sport requirements, but was still in consultation with different sporting codes to determine the specific facility needs of each.
“We expect to complete the final consultations with sporting codes later this month and will incorporate all the needs into a final development plan, which will be included in the tender.”
Developers will be required to adhere to the municipal plans, but spatial provision has been made to allow other types of business, such as accommodation and food outlets, to be developed.
The tender document is expected to be available in August with a November deadline so that work on phase one of the project can start in January.
Grobler said the purpose of the sport complex was not to house sport clubs, but to serve as a venue for national and regional competitions. Its position close to the highway made it easily accessible from the George Airport and it was only a few kilometres from the town centre. It was also in the middle of all the communities of George.
“This long-term project will be completed in phases, of which the first is the 35 000- seater soccer stadium surrounded by a tartan athletics track.
“It is essential that the soccer stadium is complete by the end of 2009 to be available for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Our bid to secure our position as hosting city will be immensely strengthened once the soccer stadium is well on its way to completion,” said Grobler.
George is currently working with local and national soccer structures to secure its position as a host city and is competing in the Western Cape with Worcester, Paarl and Beaufort West.
George‘s strategy is based on the fact that it has an airport and has hosted several international events in the past few years, including the President‘s Cup, the Women‘s World Cup of Golf and the International Sevens Rugby Tournament.