MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The phased development plan of the Brooks Park Sports and Recreational Complex in Mandeville recently made a step forward with the handover of a ticket booth and partly finished club house.

The facilities were made possible through the Lions Club of Mandeville and Paul Fraser’s Impact Trading Company.

At the ceremony, North West Manchester Member of Parliament Mikael Phillips committed to contributing $1million for three years — starting next year — from his Constituency Development Fund towards the advancement of Brooks Park.

“If we don’t own it, as we have seen time and time again, others will come and take it from us. Too often we build communities and we have no green space for residents to utilise,” he said.

Phillips said that over the period of his involvement in politics in Manchester in the last five years, he has seen Brooks Park mushroom.

Jamaica Labour Party coordinator in Central Manchester St Aubyn Bartlett suggested that the other constituencies in Manchester could make similar effort in terms of funding.

The over 38-acre Brooks Park property was entrusted to the Manchester Parish Council in the early 1950s to build the social landscape to the benefit of people in the parish as well as visitors. A committee headed by Dr Clifton Reid has been consistently striving to achieve the targets of a 20-year development plan which intends on having the park cater to more than just sporting activities.

The recent donation aside, the amenities at Brooks Park include flood lights for night events, a stage, spectator stand, gazebo, kiddies’ playground, basketball/netball court and an upgraded football field.

Last November, Brooks Park Sports and Recreational Complex was named a Peace Park by the International Institute of Peace though Tourism and a peace monument was installed.

Reid said that one of the observations as they try to activate the plans was that it was “heavy on concrete” and not so much in other areas such as grass and trees, which he believes, are important elements of a park.

Included in the plans going forward, he said, are a petting zoo, an amphitheatre, a multi-purpose stadium. A ‘Friends of Brooks’ card will be launched as a means of raising funds, he added.

Reid said that some of the ideas may be revisited over time, but with the cooperation of citizens any challenges experienced can be overcome.

“There are no problems so big that enough of us working together can’t solve,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lions Club members Fay McMillan, Clive Corke, Pamella Freeman, Rupert MaGee and Enid Edwards were awarded for their service. Bingroy Elliott was awarded posthumously.

Their names, along with Dr Hopeton Falconer, Dr Norman Day and Dr Sean Curtis — who offer free medical services to the Lions Club of Mandeville’s wellness centre — are engraved on the ticket booth.

0614: Mayor of Mandeville Brenda Ramsay (right) unveiled the buildings with Judy Schoenbein, sister to custos of Manchester Sally Porteous.