Stadium at Golibar Maidan approved

Pranjal Bhuyan / TNN / Oct 11, 2007, 03:53 IST

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After innumerable false starts and dilly-dallying at the bureaucratic level, the plan for the first full-fledged stadium in Pune Camp has finally received official sanction.

PUNE: After innumerable false starts and dilly-dallying at the bureaucratic level, the plan for the first full-fledged stadium in Pune Camp has finally received official sanction from the ministry of defence and the principal director of the defence estates' office at the Indian Army's Southern Command.
The Rs 3.5-crore multi-purpose stadium named after veteran leader Kakasaheb Gadgil will come up at Golibar Maidan and will have facilities for indoor and outdoor games.The stadium, with a seating capacity of 5,000, will be the first one-of-its-kind in the Pune cantonment area.
Chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) S.K. Sardana on Wednesday said that the formal letter sanctioning the project is ready at the defence estates' office in Southern Command and a copy of it will be received formally by the board at any time.
"A 20-year-dream of the 90,000 residents of Pune Camp is finally coming true. Some official hindrances, which I would not like to mention, had kept the proposal in abeyance all these years," Sardana said.

The entire amount for construction of the stadium will be borne by the PCB, while the board is expecting allocations for small subsidiary projects from the ministry of defence once the main stadium complex is ready. The Gadgil stadium will occupy almost the entire Golibar Maidan covering an area of 220x180 metres.
Besides a 300-metre track for track and field events, the stadium will have a football ground, a cricket pitch and an indoor section for table tennis and badminton. A crowd gallery, dressing rooms, an emergency medical ward, office space and canteen will also form a part of the stadium.

"Many city-based architects had approached the board in the last few months to make the design and layout of the stadium and give their presentations. After vetting by a three-member board, we have appointed architect Anand Uplekar, who also designed the landscape for the Muredha nullah eco-park, for the stadium project," Sardana said.
The final tender for actual construction of the stadium will be issued by the end of this month. "We are determined to finish work on at least the main structure of the stadium by mid-2009. Once the core work is completed, the rest of the project can be taken up even while the stadium is thrown open for the public," Sardana added.

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