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“The Civic” condemned for September celebrations

General“The Civic” condemned for September celebrations
Amandala has confirmed that the Ministry of Works has condemned “The Civic,” the Belize City Center, as unfit to be used for events during the September Celebrations.
  
Sound Fest 2010, the major music showcase of the Association for Belizean Artists First (ABAF), has for the first time in its history been moved from the sporting arena in the Belize City Center on Central American Boulevard to Birds Isle in the downtown area of Belize City.
  
Two other major events of the September Celebrations may follow, after a report by the Ministry of Works indicated significant “structural concerns” in the arena following a recent inspection.
  
Promoter of Sound Fest 2010, Tony Wright, told Amandala this evening that from at least one month ago, Director of the National Sports Council Anthony Michael relayed his concerns about the arena’s safety for events. In addition to Sound Fest, the City Center was scheduled to host the Queen of the Bay Pageant and Children’s Rally and Expo on September 4 and 17, respectively.
  
On Friday, inspectors from the Ministry of Works visited and conducted a thorough review, following which it was decided that the Center was just too unsafe to hold a sizable crowd for any event, especially a concert.
  
With that, Wright and company had to go to Plan B: Birds Isle, property of former Tourism Minister Henry Young. According to Wright, Young had expressed interest in hosting the event when he spoke with him earlier this year.
  
The Birds Isle is an open-air arena, and thus subject to the vagaries of Belize’s changeable weather patterns, but Wright believes the switch in venue might play in their favor.
  
He told us that that didn’t stop him from asking Michael on Friday why the Government moved only now to check the premises’ status. Michael could only say that he wrote the Ministry of Works from August of 2009 concerning the Civic falling apart.
  
Anthony Michael was unavailable for comment to Amandala all this afternoon, but he told local media that it was the NSC’s Board of Directors who asked him to contact the Ministry of Works’ engineers, who he says submitted a report last Thursday, prior to Friday’s meeting with Tony Wright. Various structural concerns, including pillars, flooring, electrical fixtures and the like were found, deeming the building unsuitable.
  
It was decided that Minister of Sports John Saldivar would present a document to Cabinet authorizing the closure of the Civic for repairs and preventing any events from being held there. However, the Fire Service and an electrical engineer are scheduled to do further inspections before that document is finalized, according to Michael.
  
CEO in the Ministry of Works Cadet Henderson told Amandala this evening that the Ministry’s inspections are ongoing and that it has recommended a restriction in the number of persons allowed to enter the building for public events, but advised we check with Chief Engineer Lennox Bradley for more details.
  
We were unable to reach Queen of the Bay organizer, Ms. Emma Boiton, at press time concerning her plans for the pageant.

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