MANGALORE, Jun 25 (The Hindu): The district administration has decided to draw up two separate master plans for upgrading Mangala Stadium, Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj has said. City-based architects Venkatesh Pai and Sanath Kumar are expected to submit the first drafts by August this year.
The decision to commission the master plans was taken at the District Stadium Committee meeting, which was attended by officials of the Department of Youth Services and Sports and coaches from the district on Tuesday.
Mr. Ponnuraj told The Hindu that the work would depend on fund availability and approvals. “But when the approvals come through we will be ready with our plans,” he said. Sources in the department added that the plans were in fact expected to speed up the process of obtaining approvals.
One of the plans will be drawn around the present structure of the stadium and will explore adding facilities such as hostels, commercial spaces and rooms.
The second plan, which Mr. Ponnuraj described as “extremely ambitious”, envisions a new structure in place of the present one.
The second plan will be modelled on the Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore, Mr. Ponnuraj said.
The committee members also raised the issue of low rent being charged from tenants of commercial establishments inside the stadium complex. Each of the 26 tenants are paying Rs. 1,200 a month as rent. The members argued that since these shops were in a prime area of the city more rent should be charged.
Sources told The Hindu that the district administration was likely to respond positively to the suggestion and hike the rent by around 20 per cent.
The much-talked-about proposal of the Sports Authority of India to start a special training centre at the Mangala Stadium was debated at the meeting.
While some disagreement on the matter existed between coaches, Mr. Ponnuraj stressed that none of the participants at the meeting had rejected the proposal outright. It may be recalled here that some private coaches had expressed reservations about the centre on the grounds that it would inconvenience athletes in the district.
However, at the meeting, all the coaches agreed that the centre had the potential to benefit local sports, but it was also stressed that local sportspersons should in no way be inconvenienced.
Mr. Ponnuraj said that these issues would be discussed with SAI officials who would be invited for the next meeting.
The proposal to construct a hostel building inside the stadium was also discussed.