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New lighting fixtures to be put up at Oleai track
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Posted on Jan 28 2021
The wooden poles at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field facility will be replaced with concrete ones. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
New lighting fixtures will be installed at the Oleai Sports Complex’s track oval this year.
A Community Development Block Grant amounting to $350,000 has been awarded through the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. to Northern Marianas Sports Association, which is the caretaker of the facility. The Saipan Mayor’s Office initiated the application of the grant for the lighting project, having shared the same location as the track and field facility.
“We are very grateful to the Saipan Mayor’s Office for their initiative on this project,” NMSA executive director Carline Sablan said during the 2022 Pacific Mini Games Organizing Committee meeting held at the Mayor’s Office last Tuesday.
Sablan added that a contractor for the project has been selected and right now, they are working on drafting a contract.
“Hopefully, we will get the lights up by August this year,” the NMSA official said.
Under the lighting project, two additional steel poles will be built at the facility, replacing the wooden ones, and the lighting fixtures will use LED lights, which are cost-effective, clearer, and more efficient. Once the project is completed, the track will have four steel poles.
The much-improved lighting fixture will provide a safer, more convenient, and up to standard venue for competitions, recreational activities, and other community events that utilize the Oleai facility. It will also provide supplemental lighting to the mayor’s office’s façade.
The project is very timely, as the CNMI is set to host the Pacific Mini Games next year and the track facility will be the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies besides the medal-rich athletics event.
“We know that the track will be used by our athletes to train and prepare for the Mini Games and other future competitions so we identified the lighting project as one of NMSA’s priorities this year,” Sablan added.
Besides hosting competitions and training sessions, the track facility has been the “go-to place” for runners/walkers since the COVID-19 pandemic struck and a preferred venue for rugby and frisbee scrimmages. NMSA initially installed additional lights at the facility while waiting for the approval of the grant.
