COMMUNITY groups and other organisations joined the Portland Municipal Corporation for its Labour Day project Monday, which saw a new ticketing booth being constructed at the popular Carder Park in the parish.

From as early as 7:30 am, volunteers, including employees of the Portland Municipal Corporation, contestants in the Miss Portland Festival Queen Competition, and personnel from the Social Development Commission, braved the rain to lend a hand on the project, as well as perform other remedial works on the property.

Parish Manager for SDC Portland, Karl Coke, explained the significance of a ticketing booth to the sport park.

“Carder Park is really the sporting mecca in Portland. This is a premier sporting location [and] whenever we have events at this location, we tend to be fully subscribed. So this ticketing area will help to ease the congestion because we normally use a gate and we normally have congestion,” Coke said.

He pointed out that given the park’s closeness to the main road, traffic congestion is also a safety risk.

“It’s a safety precaution to keep persons off the main, because we’re on the main right here. So, the ticketing area will, one, ease congestion and two, make the sporting experience for persons coming to Carder Park a lot easier and a lot more pleasurable,” the parish manager emphasised.

When completed, the ticketing booth will be a 10×10 structure that will accommodate up to three operators.

It will feature deck roofing, a hand-washing sink and will be fitted with electrical fixtures such as lights and outlets.

The project is in line with the focus of this year’s Labour Day, which targets the restoration of sports and community facilities.