Chinese experts visited the National Stadium earlier this month.

The construction of a new stadium in La Sabana park, San Jose is causing more disappointment than joy. The new $72 million stadium, a gift from China, was supposed to seat 45,000. However, after a month of surveying the land and finalizing plans, a team of 11 Chinese representatives announced that the end result will only seat 35,000, 20,000 more than the current stadium.

It was also announced that the labor force will consist almost entirely of Chinese workers, when it had been previously stated by President Arias in November that it would be mainly Costa Ricans working on the project. The Chinese workers will work in shifts 24 hours a day and take camp just beyond the construction site. Next, it was announced that the stadium would not be ready before the end of May 2010, some 6 months later than originally planned, yet another drawback. Construction is scheduled to start this July after demolition of the current stadium.

Finally, to the even greater disappointment of national sports officials, it was announced that the stadium would not include offices for either the 36 sports federations or for the Costa Rican Sports and Recreation Institute (ICODER), offices that are very much needed at this point. The stadium will, however, include lodging for up to 350 athletes so that visiting teams from other countries don’t have to continue to pay for their own hotels, like they currently do.

It seems that Costa Rica has little choice in the matter and ‘take it or leave it’ is the motto for the day. Despite not meeting all of their goals, the offer to reconstruct the stadium is still a gift from Chinese that was originally discussed during President Arias’s visit to China last October. Since the meeting, China’s relationship with Costa Rica has continued to grow economically, commercially and through plans for increased tourism exchange. The original National Stadium has stood in La Sabana park since 1941, and is in great need of repair.

The amendments to the stadium plan leave a bitter taste in the mouth, and work has not even started yet, one cannot help but wonder, what kind of other surprises will follow…

Photo courtesy of La Nacion.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on April 24th, 2008