President Luis Abinader was in Manoguayabo, the hometown of Baseball Cooperstown Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez for the groundbreaking ceremony of a new sports-oriented school. Manoguayabo is located in western Santo Domingo.
The school is an investment of RD$790 million and is expected to become “a national center with international repercussions,” as President Abinader said at the event.
The educational initiative is named: “There is Power in Learning.”
“Today with this first step, we bring joy to thousands of young people here, in Manoguayabo and throughout the country,” said the President.
The complex will operate under a co-management agreement between the Presidency of the Republic, the Ministry of Education and the Pedro Martinez Foundation, which is providing the land where the educational complex will be built.
“And I don’t want you to thank the government; it is us who have to thank you for giving back to your community,” said Abinader, addressing Pedro and and his wife Carolina Cruz.
He said that this center will be an oasis not only for Manoguayabo in West Santo Domingo, but for the whole country.
He considered that this is going to be one of the greatest legacies of Pedro Martinez. Abinader asked for a chair in the Pedro Martinez Foundation for when he leaves the Presidency.
“This is how life makes sense, he added, when you help, when you give back and when you make a difference,” said Abinader.
“Thank you very much, Carolina, thank you very much Pedro, for allowing us to help. I wish all government projects were like this type of alliances and agreements,” he said.
The objective of the construction of the education and sports complex is to guarantee at the initial level an integral and inclusive education with a view to the formation of social leaders, to generate high performance athletes with the achievement of high school competencies, to train professional technicians in areas of general employability and sports of high national and international needs under global standards.
It also promotes the integral sustainability of the students through the continuous training of the members of their families and the response to their basic needs, and supports the educational inclusion through the completion of the teaching and learning process of students with specific educational support needs.
The facility will be located on land of 40,000 square meter complex. It will have capacity for 1,680 students. The complex comprises a management and community services building, five teaching buildings, a technical workshop building, a science laboratory area, four shared volleyball and basketball courts, a baseball stadium with a batting and pitching box.
Also, a gymnasium and combat disciplines building, an indoor sports center, two school cafeterias, an athletics track, a multipurpose room, a comprehensive health services clinic, a sports museum, a vegetable garden, a warehouse, an Olympic village for athletes and volunteers, a cafeteria area, and four parking areas.
There will also be a wastewater treatment plant, an electrical transformer station, a drinking water treatment plant, a fire-fighting system, a data and security network, a general services building, a power control and dispatch center, internal road facilities, pre-installation of solar panels and a power plant.
President Abinader attended accompanied by Public Works Minister Deligne Ascensión, former baseball player Junior Noboa, baseball player Carlos Gómez and other sports personalities.
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El Caribe
4 October 2021