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Sports Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM


Creating the venue for the IAAF / BTC World Relays
By Sheldon Longley,Guardian Sport Editor
Apr 5, 2015 - 3:02:52 PM

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With Doyle Burrows bringing the experience factor to the venues department for the IAAF/BTC World Relays Bahamas 2015, and Alan Wallace adding the hospitality edge and concept based on his specialty, it is expected to be the perfect marriage for that division of the organization of the grandest athletics meet to ever be held in The Bahamas.

There’s just one month to go before the second edition of the International Association of Athletic Federation’s (IAAF) World Relay Championships, scheduled for May 2 and 3 at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium. As far as the venue is concerned, outfitting of the interior and exterior of the stadium, Wallace, the Senior Director for Venues, said that everything is on schedule.

“We have five full-time employees in this department, but as we get closer to the actual relays, there could be anywhere between 70-100 temporary workers working in and around the stadium. Each grouping will have someone who will supervise that particular area, so we have no doubt that everything will be completed in time,” said Wallace. “You never have the budget that you would like to have, but based on what we do have, we are working within some constraints. We are within our guidelines at the moment, and things are working out well so far. It’s a situation where we intend to get the best value for the dollars spent.”

There are currently five divisions within the venues department - equipment, signage, pageantry, fit-out and fabrication. With equipment, Wallace said that they have most of the articles needed, but there is still more that is required. According to him, a 53-foot container is scheduled to arrive sometime next week, loaded with tables and chairs. Fabrication, he said, entails the construction of small platforms for the officials, photographers, videographers and others, in and around the stadium. There will also be a tower constructed for television crew, picnic benches at the food court inside the stadium, there may be bleachers again depending on the amount of tickets sold, and once again a junkanoo platform will be constructed. Signage entails the placement of various signs in and around the stadium, and there will be temporary fencing put in place separating various areas of the competition venue.

Perhaps the major upgrade from a year ago, as it relates to the venues department, would be the construction of mini multi-color huts for vendors as opposed to the white tents that were in place last year. The huts would take on the theme of a setting similar to the Marina Village at Atlantis, thereby giving the event more of a native flare. According to Wallace, the huts, about two dozen of them, will have thatched roofs and will be very colorful.

“It’s all about creating the design and then carrying out the work,” said Wallace. “We want to create that local flavor and add it to this event. That’s the plan.”

Wallace worked in venues last year, and said that he gained a great deal of experience and knowledge on what happens in track and field other than just seeing the runners on the track.

His two deputies, Doyle Burrows and Lawrence Hepburn, take more of a hands-on approach. Burrows handles whatever is necessary on the inside of the stadium, and Hepburn takes care of the amenities for the outside. They work hand-in-hand to ensure that the competition venue is conducive for an event of the magnitude of the world relays.

“Basically, everything that relates to the infield, the press center, the media tribunes, I ensure that they are outfitted - everything that is required for the staging of a successful meet, whether they are stands, bars, risers, boxes, or whatever,” said Burrows. “Most of the amenities are constructed, and most of them would have been constructed last year. A lof of the work this year entails putting a fresh coat of paint on some of the counters and boxes in some cases, so in that regard it is easier. With last year, we had to put the entire infrastructure in place. This year, a lot of them are already in place.”

Burrows, who played a huge role in the construction of the media tribunes last year, said that the biggest problem they actually faced from a year ago, is maintenance.

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“We didn’t do as good of job that we could in maintaining some of the amenities from a year ago. In some areas, we had to basically start over again,” said Burrows. “There are certain people responsible for certain areas. One of the main things that we’re trying to do is to enhance the exterior for the patrons of this event. We’re moving away from the tents of a year ago with the construction of the huts for the vendors. We want to make the amenities more customer-friendly for the patrons.”

The track itself is IAAF Class I certified, installed by Mondo for the staging of the inaugural world relays last year. It’s just the amenities on the infield, around the circumference of the track, and on the outside, that need to be refurbished.

Burrows, who has been involved with athletics for 50-plus years whether as an athlete, coach, team official or organizer, said that he is thrilled to be working with the Local Organizing Committee of the world relays (LOC) again, and is looking forward to another “Bahamazing” event come May.

“I’ve worked every major track meet that The Bahamas has participated in, in the last 50-plus years,” said Burrows. “Track and field has always been my passion. There has always been that love for the sport, more so than the job itself. A lot of people look at it as a job and therefore don’t put their heart and soul into it, but I’ve always loved track and field. It’s what I do,” he added.

Burrows said that from he was a young boy growing up in “The Valley”, he used to marking out fields and playing areas. Back then, they used sand to separate the lanes on grass tracks - a practice that is still in place in some parts of the Caribbean today.

With him, Wallace and Hepburn in charge of the venues department, organizers need not spend a great deal of time worrying about that aspect of the world relays this year.

About 30,000 fans are expected to pack the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium over the course of the two days of the event. Tickets are available online at www.bahamasworldrelays.org, or at the box office at the national stadium from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. The start time of the world relays has been pushed back to 7 p.m. for each day, as opposed to a 5 p.m. start from last year’s event, so as to accommodate patrons facing the heated conditions on the Eastern Grandstand.

There are now just 30 days remaining until the biggest sports spectacle to ever hit these shores makes a return to The Bahamas.



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