Bloem 2010 upgrade finalised

17 January 2007

Bloemfontein - The upgrading of the Free State stadium in Bloemfontein for the 2010 Soccer World Cup will start in July, the Mangaung Host City organisation said on Wednesday.

"The most important issue for us is the upgrade of the stadium," said George Mohlakoana, chief executive of Mangaung Host City.

Mohlakoana said the upgrade involved increasing the spectator capacity of the stadium from about 38 000 to 48 000.

"Other upgrades include the floodlights, a public address system, CCTV (closed circuit TV) for in and around the stadium, and the media facilities."

Mangaung will get R221m from central government to upgrade the stadium.

"We had to go back to the board and redesign our plan," said Mohlakoana, adding that the original cost estimates were R280m.

"We revisited the design and brought the cost down to R245m.

"The city has decided to stand in for R24m," he said.

Mohlakoana said details of the upgrade were being finalised and hoped the tender would be advertised in February and March and be awarded in May.

The Free State's capital city however faces a huge shortage of beds for soccer visitors.

"Accommodation is the biggest challenge facing us," said Mohlakoana.

The city has only about 6 500 beds in the tourism sector, while some 20 000 beds are "required".

Mohlakoana said they would link up with neighbouring cities like Kimberley and Maseru in Lesotho to address the problem.

"We are also working on ideas for home based stay, where we would like to involve residents in make their homes available to visitors," he said.

Source: News24