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He challenged the media to tour the facility ourselves to see just how far along the contractors are. Today, he organized that tour and Daniel Ortiz was there:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
Back in September of last year, this was what the Grandstand Facility of the Marion Jones Sporting Complex looked like,but if you fast-forward to today, and it is clear to see, just how much work has gone into it.

Hon. Herman Longsworth - Minister of State/Sports
"We are - in terms of structural works, about 85% complete, As you can see from downstairs - we have done a lot of finishes as well. We almost plastered everything downstairs and as soon as we clear out - we'll start with the floor work."

The frame of the old grandstand facility is still there, but where it was ravaged by rust, it has been sand blasted and concreted. Even the bleachers are made of concrete; a design decision which the Government and the contractors believe will have longevity.

Basing on appearance, it is deceptive how much space is actually being housed under those bleachers, space that the Minister of Sports intends to put to very good use.

Hon. Herman Longsworth
"This building is everything, it's a grandstand facility - it's similar to a much smaller case to what you would see in bigger countries where everything is here. Just below us are the concession areas where all the shops for the spectators to buy whatever they want to buy. We have below storage facilities for all the sporting equipment, locker rooms, referee rooms - we have a gym, offices for the national sports council because we want to bring the National Sports council here for them to live here. All that is a one stop shop - everything is here."

What you're looking it is a facility that has an estimated budget of 13.5 million dollars, and according to Longsworth, the public access is priority in terms of the direction which the contractors have gone. There is a clear understanding that the public wants and needs access to the complex as soon as possible.

Hon. Herman Longsworth
"The emphasis for us is to complete the public areas first, we do all the public areas to get the facility to a point where we can start to use it and then we continue to finish all the rest of things that needs to be finished."

It is the Minister of Sports' vision to have the Marion Jones Complex to be of the highest of all facilities in Belize.

Hon. Herman Longsworth
"Except for the Civic Center that we're rebuilding, which is a national facility as well for indoor sports - I wanted to see this become the primary national facility - that was my reason for coming up with what I call the dream; to try to get as many disciplines as we can in this facility - so it's a one stop shop. It will be cheaper for everybody, it will be easier to access and that is really what I want to do."

So, to recap, besides the grandstand facility, what is here presently, and what else is left to be put in?

Hon. Herman Longsworth
"What you see here is the FIFA standard football immediately on the ground here, you can see the 400 meter track in the distance there and also the cycle track.

Over to the right you will see the Beach Volleyball facility that we've built and used before. I want to put in an Olympic size swimming pool to the north of the football field here. We want to build a building to house volleyball and basketball and other indoor sports and to the north of that I want to get build a dormitory facility for us to house our athletes when we get them here. I also want to put in racket ball just west of the Beach ball facility - I'm hoping that we can get cricket inside the 400 meter track and also get in a go-cart track for children to learn to drive properly."

And Longsworth is ready to answer the challenge from anyone that it the vision of the grand stand facility may not the best design decision given that a large budget has been allocated to it, and other parts of the facility still need funding:

Hon. Herman Longsworth
"That is a world-class track - that is not just some track, a good bit of money has gone into that so that all the track and field athletes will have a world class facility to be able to use. That Football field is going to be a FIFA standard football field again - this is a world class facility that we're building here and the athletes will have access to that - that is what we're doing - for the athletes. But you have to also take care of the spectators, take care of the people who will make the sport happen. They will come and spend their money to ensure that the athletes can continue to go, that's how it works."

And while the facility has a hefty price tag, Longsworth says that in order to get the best value for the money, he believes that a private sector entity should manage the complex after it's finished.

Hon. Herman Longsworth
"This is going to be for tertiary level sports - we must create other areas where the secondary sports can be played. It is going to be very costly to manage and to run this facility - it's not going to be cheap, it may have to be subsidized a little but that is something that we are working on to try to come up with a management structure for the facility. It will include for maintenance etc. My own personal view is that it ought to be put in hands of a private sector entity - I would want to see that happen because government can't afford to maintain this thing. So I would want to see it go into some, even if it's a joint venture between government and a private sector entity - that the private sector would be responsible for the marketing and the actual management of the facility. It is going to cost, there's no part of the world that you go to a tertiary level sport that you don't pay premium dollar to go and see it."

Longsworth plans to launch his master plan to talk about the additional parts of the stadium. He stressed that these additions will not delay the access to the facility in any way, and he still plans to have it open to the public by the end of the year.

We note that a track event was held at the facility over the weekend.