NMSA to stay within renovation budget

The Northern Marianas Sports Association hopes renovation of the Oleai track and field facility start by March so that CNMI athletes could again use it by the middle of 2015. (Jon Perez)

A Community Development Block Grant from the Northern Mariana Housing Corp. will fund the refurbishing of the track facility as harsh weather conditions and years of continued use added to the deterioration of the rubber surface where black patches and bubbles have already formed.

“We are going to stick within the working budget. We’re trying to stay on the amount allotted for the project. We don’t want to go beyond the money that was appropriated on the grant,” said Rogolifoi in an interview with Saipan Tribune yesterday.
NMSA has already completed the paperwork NMHC required to give clearance for the renovation of the track. NMSA vice president Kurt Barnes, in an earlier report, said that the CNMI Historical Preservation Office has also released clearance for the renovation.

“We’re holding on with the figures for the construction. We consulted an engineer at A&E Design for the project and we’re going to submit the figures to NMHC so we could start with the bidding process,” added Rogolifoi.

The former Sports and Recreation Division director said NMSA wants to make sure there won’t be any discrepancy with the figures to ensure the smooth flow of the bidding process.

NMSA officials will still review the figures before submitting them to NMHC. They are planning to begin the bidding process for the project by January and are hoping renovation will start by March.

NMSA aims to open the track facility by May in time for several Northern Marianas Athletics-organized events. Oceania Athletics Association president Geoff Gardner said at least two months are needed in putting the adhesive and laying out the new rubber surface.

Gardner and other OAA officials, who visited Saipan last October to inspect the track facility, wanted to make sure proper resurfacing will be done for the track to last longer.

The new track oval, once completed, will have a light blue color not the usual pinkish-red hue.

Resurfacing of the track is NMHC’s only approved project for this year and NMSA is aiming to get the facility back to its Level II certification by the International Association of Athletics Federations in time for two international events.

NMA is planning to bid for the hosting rights for the 2017 Micronesian Athletics Championships, while the CNMI through NMSA won the bidding for the 2021 Pacific Mini Games, bringing the quadrennial meet to the island for the first time.(Jon Perez)