The Government of Ghana is expected to spend a little over US$3 million, to complete the first phase of the Essipong Sports Stadium Renovation Project, Sports Minister Isaac Asiamah has revealed.

The Sports Minister disclosed this as he led a team to inspect the current state of the facility, before works officially commence. The renovation exercise forms part of a national agenda to rehabilitate all the country’s sports stadia.

This will be the first time such works are being carried out at the Essipong Stadium since it was built, right in time for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

The initial phase starts immediately with works to be carried out comprising;

Removal and Replacement of existing defect roofing sheets
Replacement of damaged roof structural steel frame members and bolts.
Corrosion Protection works involving sand blasting to remove built up rust and subsequently applying heavy duty coating system to guard against corrosion to metals structure from the Mid-West Stand to South Stand.
Water Proof treatment applied to leaking areas
Repair of Lift, Fire-Fighting System and Air condition Units
General Renovation of Offices
Plumbing works involving replacement of existing defective sanitary appliances
Speaking to the media after the inspection exercise, the Sports Minister disclosed that a total of US$3,086,206 (17,969,447 Ghana cedis) will be spent on the project which is expected to run for 12 calendar months.

Isaac Asiamah bemoaned the state of the facility and stressed that there needs to be an attitudinal change in our culture of maintenance. He further revealed that plans have been put in place to draft specific maintenance manuals for the various national sports stadia that will be strictly adhered to keep the facilities from getting into deplorable conditions again.

He said “after Essipong is brought back to life, the ministry will ensure religious maintenance culture, we will provide maintenance manuals for all the stadia that we are renovating”.

“There is going to be a strict adherence to maintenance culture here”, he noted.

The project is being supervised by the Architectural and Engineering Services (AESL) Ltd with CISDAN Ltd serving as the contractors.