Ground has been broken for the creation of a $64- million sports complex and community centre in Hopewell, Hanover.

Construction of the facility, which is expected to benefit and improve the lives of more than 10,000 residents in Hopewell and its environs, was made possible through the partnership of four charity organisations in the parish — the Hanover Charities, the Tryall Fund, the Junior Chamber International Hopewell, and the Lennox Lewis League of Champions.

Work on the two-storey facility, which is being developed by Grayson Construction with Maffessanti Builders providing complimentary architectural drawings, is expected to start this month and end in one year.

The complex will consist of a community centre, football field, basketball and netball courts, homework centre, computer room, and the Lennox Lewis League of Champions boxing ring/gym.

Chairperson of the Hanover Charities, Katrin Casserly, pointed to the importance of the homework centre during the groundbreaking ceremony for the complex last Thursday.

“If you ever notice many students after school, they are just roaming the streets. Either the parents are at work, or they don’t know where their children are,” said Casserly.

“We want to work together with the schools in the area, and offer them this facility here. We have teachers ready and waiting to man the centre in the afternoons, so children can have a safe and comfortable environment to do after-school work which is important for their development,” she explained.

President of the Junior Chamber International Hopewell, Shane Reid, said a steering committee is already in place to manage the centre when completed. He also stated that his club has a number of teachers as members who will assist in manning the centre.

Custos of Hanover, Dr David Stair, in pointing out that the project is the largest to be undertaken by Hanover Charities, urged the residents to take care of the facility and to make good use of its services.

Dr Stair also used the occasion to call on the government to establish similar complexes across Jamaica.

And Member of Parliament for Hanover Eastern, Dave Brown, congratulated the four organisations that are partnering to develop the facility.

He said that stakeholders are looking forward to the parish reaping immense benefits from what he described as a “one-of-a-kind infrastructure.”