President Mejia said he was unaware of the project to build eight sports venues on grounds of the Mirador del Este Park that surrounds the Columbus Lighthouse Monument, on the East Side of Santo Domingo. The Organizing Committee of the 2003 Santo Domingo Pan-American Games has plans to use 25,000 square meters of the 650,000 square meters of the park to build a 5,000 person amphitheater, children’s play area, picnic area, outdoor archery, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, and covered handball, table tennis, badminton, gymnastics pavilions, a RD$120 million investment. Leonardo Macarulla, architect of the project said that the site was chosen over the original areas adjacent to the V Centenario Race Track because they sought an area with good circulation of people to guarantee the permanent use of the installations.
