Simmons's wish granted: Crown Street Ground to get facelift

FORMER West Indies batsman Lendl Simmons has got his wish, as chairman of the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation Josiah Austin said work is under way at the Crown Street Recreational Ground in Tacarigua.

On November 8, in a media release published in the Newsday, Simmons complained about the poor conditions at the ground.

Simmons and other members of his family are integral members of the Cane Farm Sports Club, a club that uses the Crown Street Recreational Ground.

Cane Farm had to play their home matches this year at another venue because of the dilapidated conditions at Crown Street Recreational Ground. Other East zone teams were also affected during last season, as other grounds were not fit for cricket such as Squadron Grounds in Arouca.

Simmons's name is on the pavilion at the Crown Street ground and he wants to see the facility maintain a high standard.

Austin said meetings with Simmons have been fruitful.

In a statement sent to Newsday, Austin said, "We met with Mr Simmons and his team where we planned several ways to not just enhance the space, but also the quality of life in and around that area through sport and other activities. I shared with them the plans for that recreation ground as we’ve now broken up the fields in the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation region into tiers and we’ve also partnered with several groups and agencies for restoration and maintenance."

Austin said the UWI St Augustine campus and CEPEP are helping with the renovation of the ground and he has liaised with the Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales about the restoration of lights at Crown Street Recreation Ground and other fields which have been vandalised.

Austin said the councillor for the Five Rivers district, Desiree Defreitas, has also been out meeting with stakeholders.

The Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation has a goal to improve not just recreation grounds in the area.

"Most recently we’ve embarked on a beautification exercise of all of our nine cemeteries through cleaning and painting. This is a model our council has adopted to deal with all our open spaces, our cemeteries, pavilion, recreational grounds and our play parks. This would include painting, filling, rolling, further development works to the electrical and plumbing (infrastructure) and enhancing the overall aesthetics."