Residents of San Pedro proudly gathered at the San Pedro Ambergris stadium along with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Hon. Patrick Faber; Area Representative, Hon. Manuel Heredia and the Mayor of San Pedro, His worship Daniel Guerrero to officially declare the state of the art facility opened.
Speaking at the event, Mayor Guerrero noted that 33 years ago residents of the island would not have imagined that the municipality would have developed by leaps and bounds as it is now. He said that the new facility is a testament of progress being ushered by the United Democratic Party Government. “The biggest asset of the island is the people,” he said, and added that it is through the effort of and hard work of those that came before that the new facility is made possible. He also took time to thank the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow for the investment in the island.
And the investment is a significant one, according to Belize Infrastructure Limited’s Christy Mastry, a total of 4.4 million dollars was invested in the 4 and a half acre space of land. She said that half of this was actually mangrove swamp and it took some doing for the facility to be constructed.  Mastry noted that for the synthetic field to have been installed, proper drainage was necessary. She said that at the beginning the highest point on the pitch was only 10 inches above the lagoon water level. That had to be  raised to between 32 and 36 inches in order for the turf to be installed.
Aside from the synthetic turf, the stadium has a seating capacity of between 1200 and 1500 persons. It has VIP rooms, a media booth, locker rooms, bathroom facilities and concession areas. It also features lighting that conform to international standards.
Addressing the gathering, Area Representative, Hon. Manuel Heredia stated that 4.4 million dollar investment highlights the government’s commitment to people and especially the youth. He added that the Mayor has done a fantastic job and because of this the people of San Pedro will return him and his team to office to do better things for the island.
Minister of Sports, Hon. Patrick Faber explained that the football field is a dream come true for the people of San Pedro as much as it is a dream come true for Hon. Heredia. He noted that the state of the art facility is one of many that are being constructed across the country. He cited the Civic Center in Belize city which will be completed by December of this year and the Marion Jones Complex which is also nearing completion. The San Pedro field he said comes from proceeds of Petro Caribe and is testament that there is actual investment that took place as the facilities are on the ground. He ended by saying that the facility should be used for development of young people for local, national and international level competition.
