For years, the Sekondi Sports Stadium stood as a painful reminder of what happens when a major public sporting facility is allowed to slip into neglect.
Once a proud sporting landmark and a gathering place for football lovers in the Western Region, the facility gradually lost its shine.
Its grandstands and installations deteriorated, security became a concern and even vital cables were reportedly stripped away by thieves.
New Beginning
Today, however, there are signs of a new beginning.
Rehabilitation works have brought visible changes to the Sekondi Sports Stadium, rekindling hopes that the facility could once again become a major sporting centre for the people of Sekondi and the Western Region.
But Western Regional Minister, Joseph Nelson, says the real challenge may begin after the last contractor leaves the site.
Inspecting the rehabilitated facility, Mr Nelson welcomed the progress made, but cautioned that the stadium must not be allowed to return to the state of neglect, from which it is now emerging.
Maintenance Culture
His message was simple: restore it, but keep it alive. “Once it’s done, we should have a good plan in place in how the place is utilised, so that at least the maintenance of the place can happen. Otherwise, the facility will stand there and really begin to deteriorate,” he warned.
Mr Nelson said the condition of the stadium, when the current administration assumed office, was far worse than the public had been led to believe.
He recalled the controversy that followed a government budget indication that the facility was more than 90 per cent complete.
That claim, he said, was challenged by the then Member of Parliament for the area, Joe Ghartey. Subsequent inspections after the change of administration, according to the Minister, revealed that significant work was still required before the stadium could be considered fit for purpose.
“When we took office, it was clear that it was not as it was painted. There was a lot to be done, and the place was really run down,” he said.
Mr Nelson said his own visit to the facility revealed worrying gaps, particularly in security and lighting.
“Some of the important things, even the cables and stuff like that, had been taken out by thieves,” he said.
A fresh push
The fortunes of the stadium began to change when the current Sports Minister took an interest in the project, visited the facility and engaged the contractor to resume work.
Mr Nelson praised the intervention, saying it had resulted in visible progress, including work on the stadium’s seating arrangements.
“It was refreshing when the new Minister took interest, actually visited there, and got the contractor to be back on its feet to really get the job going,” he said.
The Western Regional Minister is optimistic that the rehabilitation will be completed and the facility restored to full use.
The stadium needs a life beyond football
One of the biggest challenges confronting the facility, according to Mr Nelson, is the absence of a professional football club that regularly uses it as its home ground.
“The challenge, however, is that we do not have the teams that would utilise the facility. That is where the challenge really is,” he said.
The Western Region currently has Medeama as its major representative in the Ghana Premier League.
But with the club having an established home venue in Tarkwa, the completion of the Sekondi Stadium may not necessarily result in the club relocating its home matches to Sekondi.
The decline of traditional Sekondi-based clubs such as Sekondi Hasaacas and Eleven Wise has further reduced the number of competitive football matches capable of filling the stadium’s stands regularly. That, Mr Nelson believes, calls for a broader vision.
The stadium must not depend solely on professional football. Athletics, school competitions, community sporting events, entertainment programmes, exhibitions and other commercial activities could provide alternative sources of activity and revenue.
The National Sports Authority and the Sports Ministry, he said, must develop a clear utilisation and revenue-generation strategy under which part of the money generated from activities at the facility is reinvested into maintenance.
From abandoned landmark to active community asset
The Minister observed that, apart from occasional athletics-related activities, including programmes organised by the Ghana Education Service, the stadium has largely remained inactive.
That inactivity, he said, is dangerous for a facility that has already suffered years of deterioration.
“We must begin thinking about what will happen there, how well we are going to put that facility to use so that we’ll be able to keep it active. Once it’s active, we can save it from deterioration,” he said.
For residents who have watched the stadium decline over the years, its rehabilitation offers a chance to reclaim an important part of Sekondi’s sporting identity. But the Minister’s warning carries a lesson beyond the stadium itself.
Public infrastructure does not survive simply because it has been constructed or rehabilitated. It survives when it is used, protected and properly maintained.
And with substantial public resources already committed to restoring the Sekondi Sports Stadium, Mr Nelson insists there can be no return to the days when the facility stood largely idle.
“With how much money has been expended, we cannot leave it sitting there idle.
Something, by all means, will have to be thought through, then we can put it to use,” he said.
The Sekondi Sports Stadium is therefore standing at a crossroads. One path leads to renewed sporting life, activity and community pride.
The other leads back to the familiar story of disrepair. For now, the renovated facility offers a glimpse of what Sekondi’s sporting future could look like. The bigger task is ensuring that the lights do not go out again.
