The Spanish firm Giscosa Caribe said that the definite repair of the Palacio de los Deportes Virgilio Travieso Soto will commence in two weeks and the city’s most important basketball court will be finished by the end of February. Giscosa Caribe is investing RD$5 million in the project, said Luis Arroyo, vice president of the consortium. The company had handed in the sports facility on 11 September 1998 but the roof was ripped off by Hurricane Georges barely 11 days later. Arroyo said that they are honoring the 20 year guarantee and the government will not have to invest a penny in the repairs. The damages caused the cancellation of the National Basketball Tournament that had just started on 11 September. Arroyo explained that they will be reinforcing the roof covering with a special polyester frame that is expected to be able to resist the worst of hurricane winds. Some 11,000 cubic meters of synthetic material will be used and 15 Spanish technicians will come to Santo Domingo for the project.
