Minister Alexander inspects ongoing work on new music stadium |07 April 2017

Minister Alexander and his delegation inspecting ongoing work on the new music stadium

The Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture Idith Alexander on Thursday toured the site where work is ongoing to build a new music stadium which is expected to open by August 2017.

The minister was accompanied by the principal secretary for Culture Benjamine Rose, the chief executive of the National Arts Council (NAC) Jimmy Savy and the chairman of Seymas (association of musicians) Jean-Marc Volcy.

The ministerial delegation were guided on the tour by architect Zoran Vuksanovic.

Minister Alexander said she was quite satisfied with the work so far.

“This visit follows a series of visits to see progress on the new music stadium for the artists. As the new minister, I wanted to discuss with the artists about the project, how to manage the stadium when it is ready. The project is going quite well and I am hoping that we can celebrate the opening of our Festival Kreol this year in this music stadium,” she said.

She however noted that certain delays in the construction work are to be expected during the coming months.

The minister said the artists want to have an office in the music stadium and discussions are ongoing to see how this can be done.

“It is important to understand that it is a music stadium for the artists, a place where they can promote their work,” she said.

The artists have been involved from the very beginning with designing the concept to make it a multipurpose stadium where artists practicing different art forms can use the venue.

The new music stadium will consist of a main stage, backstage corridors and backstage facilities, changing rooms, office facilities and ticket booth.

Mr Volcy said it is important they have an office so as to be able to plan their work better.

“All artists have fought really hard to have our own music stadium; we will be able to maintain it because we know how such industry works. Also it will allow us to cut costs on expenses that we had to cater for in the past such as for renting a stage, lights, and sound systems, among others,” he said.

The foundation stone for the music stadium was laid on October 1, 2016 and construction started shortly after.