It's been two years since the not so aptly named Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium had its three hours of glory as the venue for the opening ceremony of the Cricket World Cup. Since then, it has hosted a handful of second-tier sporting events, but mostly been an unofficial grazing pasture for livestock, until an outcry caused greater vigilance by managers.

Most of the assumptions on which the Jamaican Government spent over US$30 million in loans from China to develop the stadium have come to naught. American professional sporting teams have not found it an ideal place for their winter training camps. Nor has it become integrated into what remains an ephemeral sports tourism programme.

What the Trelawny facility on the Jamaican north-westerly coast is fast becoming, is an expensive piece of underused real estate. Or, a white elephant. Or, whatever colour, of whatever species.

Hard to let go

Except that somebody wants to salvage the stadium, which appears, as is so often the case, to be reviving the dreams of those who have control and find it hard to let go. This, of course, tends to be the way of bureaucracy.

The University of Technology (UTech), a state-supported institution, with a campus in Kingston, has made overtures for the Trelawny facility, which it wants to make the hub of a western Jamaica campus.

The details of UTech's plan, including how it intends to fund the project and the specifics of the kinds of infrastructure it would have to add to the existing facility, have not been disclosed. But the university's president, Professor Errol Morrison stressed that the stadium would be a focal point for sports, entertainment and cultural activities.

Such an idea is not novel. UTech, largely, is borrowing a concept from American universities, several of which have substantial stadia integrated into their campuses. And in any event, having the Trelawny stadium as part of a UTech campus would, it seems to us, be a platform for advancing the work the institution is already doing in sport, particularly athletic.

Indeed, UTech, several years ago understood the importance of Jamaica's pedigree in global athletics and established its high-performance centre for the training of athletes. Moreover, it partnered with the MVP Track Club, which is based at UTech's campus and was the stable of several of the top athletes in Jamaica's outstanding performance at the China Olympics.

National interest

But the sport minister, Olivia Grange, says that there are people, connected with professional basketball and baseball in the United States who are talking with her ministry about using the facility for training and clinics - that is, the same idea proffered when the stadium was being developed. There is no assurance that this will happen, and if it does, it would require substantial investment to make the facility functionally multi-purpose.

There are national interest considerations in this issue and, in that regard, Jamaica's sporting prowess and the country's obligation to build on this can't be treated lightly. Nor UTech's hand in helping to advance sporting skills can be easily glossed over.

Importantly, too, the university is not in the habit of seeking government bailouts for its projects. For example, even before the Trelawny idea came on the table, it was eliciting private-sector help to raise over $60 million to enhance its sporting facilities. Trelawny, in that context, makes sense.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.