Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, in Gweru
GWERU-based Sheasham Construction is working on revamping Bata Stadium, with the aim of attaining minimum standards required to play host to Premier Soccer League games by February 2023.
The company which sponsors newly promoted Premier Soccer League club Sheasham Football Club, who won the topflight ticket after being crowned Central Region Soccer League champions, says the budget to revamp Bata will cost at least US$250 000.
Work is underway at the dilapidated site, with construction workers reportedly working round the clock to meet the February deadline.
Speaking during a visit to Bata Stadium by Chronicle Sports crew yesterday, Sheasham FC’s vice-president Happy Dziva said they decided to resuscitate Bata Stadium to show off their technical ingenuity by building a home for the newly promoted Premiership side.
“The plan is to light up this place which was last used about 30 years back by Bata Power. Our initial target is to have this facility meeting minimum standards for PSL games by February to early March.
We want a home where we will have full control of the stadium hence our decision to enter into an arrangement with Bata.
“What we want is to promote the brand Sheasham and show off our technical abilities as a construction industry player by investing in this stadium. Sheasham Football Club carries the name of the company and while it showcases football, whatever they do reflects on the company. If we do this project right, we know that the whole of Zimbabwe will talk about it and that will go a long in promoting the brand Sheasham,” said Dziva.
Already, Sheasham Construction has done plumbing inside the dressing rooms, reconnected the water and sewer system.
They have fixed broken windows for the changing rooms and even bought new toilet sets that they intend changing next week.
During yesterday’s tour, Chronicle Sport found workers finishing on the playing field’s drainage system that saw 90 tonnes of gravel and 90 tonnes of river sand being laid underneath to create a riverbed that will trap water and let it flow through a centre tunnel.
The grader was working on the field in preparation for laying of 7 000 square metre lawn to be done next week.
Dziva said thorough research was done before embarking on the project, adding that having a perfect drainage system is critical if stadium is to host matches throughout the year.
“In doing the drainage system, surveyors used their equipment to check on the terrain slopes and determine the flow of water. We then had trenches done at 5m intervals placed in positions that will capture water at particular lines and have it flow in one direction.
“We then put up a gravel base which we compacted so that it creates a water channel or a pathway that water runs through. After gravel it was the river sand, then the topsoil for the lawn to have the necessary nutrients.
“Now the grader is slitting the base that will house the lawn that we bought at a local farm. We won’t do an artificial turf,” Dziva said.
After placing the lawn and completing the dressing room, Sheasham Construction will then turn to the grandstands. They want the VIP stand to have bucket seats, with the rest of the ground having a lawn like Baobab Stadium of Ngezi Platinum Stars or steel stands similar to those at Mandava Stadium.
Asked if US$250 000 was enough to fund all the works required, Dziva said: “The advantage we have is that we’re in the construction industry and we’re using our own machinery instead of hiring. The workers here are already on our payroll”.
Dziva said by end of December, a lot of ground will have been covered. — @ZililoR
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter