{"id":312124,"date":"2019-11-14T06:02:05","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T20:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=312124"},"modified":"2019-11-14T06:02:05","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T20:02:05","slug":"nmsa-starts-grant-application-for-oleai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/nmsa-starts-grant-application-for-oleai\/","title":{"rendered":"NMSA starts grant application for Oleai"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Oleai Sports Complex\u2019s track and field facility may undergo significant improvement once the Northern Marianas Sports Association\u2019s grant application is approved. (Northern Marianas Athletics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Oleai Sports Complex is expected to undergo significant improvement, as Northern Marianas Sports Association begins the application process for an Economic Development Administration grant that would possibly double the size of the existing structure. <\/p>\n

According to NMSA official Laurie Peterka, she, along with the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs and Office of Planning and Development, have started working on the application for the EDA grant that they have been discussing for over a year. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been waiting on our government to get to where we are today. They\u2019ve delayed us because the property belongs to them, but we\u2019re starting to push forward. I\u2019ve been working very closely with the staff of DCCA and the office of Planning and Development for the last two weeks and the grant process is moving forward,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Peterka explained that the scope of the project is massive and will take up the property from the Saipan Mayor\u2019s Office all the way down to the Marianas High School and the property adjacent, in a mirror image. <\/p>\n

The project will improve the Oleai Sports Complex and extend it, too to create a connected cultural center. <\/p>\n

The project includes adding a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a pedestrian bridge that goes across the Oleai Sports Complex to the beach area where the cultural center will be built to have a canoe house, beach volleyball courts, and a performing arts area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about a $20-million project in total and it would be done in three phases. The thing I think that is really valuable is how we can make sports tourism or even our sports economy, more effective through infrastructure development and be able to have that platform to build on,\u201d Peterka said. <\/p>\n

Concession stands will also be placed around the area and the existing grandstand at the track and field facility will be extended to accommodate more people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a conceptual process where you talk about \u2018this is what we envision.\u2019 If awarded the grant, EDA will have an architect and engineer do the design and build aspect of it so what we\u2019re talking about today could shift or change a little bit depending on the actual engineering,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Peterka, who is urging all sports federations to show their cooperation by providing data and a letter of support, said that there is no set date for submission of the application. However, they plan to file it as quickly as possible due to the numerous groups also competing for the grant. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur region is competing with LA Fires last year for the same amount of money so the sooner we get the application in, the more likely we\u2019ll get priority in front of other applicants and that\u2019s the urgency. There is a rotating open window on this application so it\u2019s not a fix deadline. I t\u2019s just the sooner, the better,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Oleai Sports Complex is expected to undergo significant improvement, as Northern Marianas Sports Association…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":309043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1162],"class_list":["post-312124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-nmsa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}