Clark Field, Pampanga—Sports facilities that are being constructed inside the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac are more than halfway done.
The facilities, which showcase Filipino culture and lifestyle, will be used for the coming 30th Southeast Asian Games and are expected to be finished by August.
The sports complex at the New Clark City will serve as the main hub of the Games, which will cater to 22 of the 56 sports disciplines which have been calendared.
Officials of infrastructure developer, MTD Philippines, which is the project partner of the Bases Conversion Development Authority, said the project will be done some three months of before start of the biennial meet, which will take place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.
“We are in here for the long haul (on these projects). May athletics stadium, at may aquatics center. Matatapos po ito ng June, at the latest ay July,” said New Clark City project director, admiral Jose Miguel Rodriguez during yesterday’s weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum that was held at the Mimosa Golf and Country Club.
The venues are part of a P13.6-billion project, known as Phase 1A of the New Clark City (NCC).
Other facilities that are being readied for the games are in the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan
The athletes’ village will have 2,100 beds, and will be home to athletes, officials, and volunteers for the duration of the Games.
There are plans to have them operational by Nov. 20.
The aquatics center will have an eight-lane training pool, a 10-lane competition pool and a maximum depth of five meters.
On the other hand, the track stadium will have a 400-meter standard track and nine lanes.
Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee deputy director Arrey Perez said the structures built will be the first major sports facilities to rise in the country since the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex was put up in 1934.
The designers take pride in the design of the oval, which draws inspiration from the “caldera,” or the crater of Mt. Pinatubo and the contour of the surrounding terrain of Zambales and the Sierra Madre ranges.
They used lahar as its building material and incorporated the color of lava, which is active orange, in painting the structure.
Aquatic sports will be done in the New Clark City, along with athletics.
Obstacle course sports, petanque, lawn bowls and skateboarding will be at the Clark Global City,
The other venues of the Games within the NCC area are in the parade grounds, which will have archery and rugby.
Baseball and softball will be at the Villages, while dancesport is at the Royce Hotel.
Clark Field in Angeles City, Pampanga will play host to shooting, golf, jiujitsu, kurash, arnis, sambo, wrestling and wakeboarding.