New Stadium track makes bold statement – Lockerbie
Published:Thursday | March 13, 2025 | 12:12 AM
DON LOCKERBIE, the man behind the resurfacing project of the National Stadium’s running track, said the idea to use the national colours is a major statement of Jamaica’s long-standing reputation in track and field.
Speaking with The Gleaner on Tuesday during a visit to the facilities, Lockerbie, the venue director for Grand Slam Track (GST), explained the idea to use the national colours came to him after he had seen the Jamaican flag at the National Stadium.
“I didn’t want to just make the statement that we just put a little more paint on top of the old track. I wanted to come up with something a little different,” he explained.
“I was actually sitting in these seats here in the royal box one day on a nice cool afternoon looking at that old video board and looking at the national flag on the two sides and it occurred to me, we can take those three colours and find a way to make this look like the flag.”
Lockerbie explained the use of the national colours on the various areas of the track was selected specifically to replicate their placement on the national flag.
“If you look at the flag, you can see the black on the left and the right so I went with black for the two end zones. Then you have the green on the two main sprint straightaways, and then for the gold, the ‘X’ on the flag, to me felt like the relay zones and the javelin and the long jump runways.”
After creating the design, he had pitched the idea to the Jamaican government and Independence Park Limited (IPL) who approved the project.
With GST also on board, all three stakeholders worked together to ensure the resurfacing would be completed in time for upcoming marquee events such as the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships as well as the first-ever staging of the GST series.
SHORT TIMELINE
“There was no question that the government and the IPL wanted to make sure that the Gibson McCook Relays took place here for its 100th anniversary and we also know that Champs typically has its build out five days before it’s start. So we basically had from February 24 to the March 19,” Lockerbie explained.
The short timeline meant the Rekortan Tracks, the company handling the installation, would need to be completed in record time, which Lockerbie said was met with public scepticism.
However, he stated with the support of the Jamaican government and the IPL, they are entering the final stages of the track’s renovation.
“There were doubts from the public and that’s absolutely fair. Those doubts were some I even had expressed to myself because of the restrictions we had,” he stated.
“We had a manpower of eight or 10 people coming in and then another eight locals that have been working on this really really well.”
He added, “The support we had from the government and the IPL and the locals was really incredible. We had equipment on boats coming to Jamaica and when they arrived, the government got it straight out of port on the same day so that we could get everything started.”
Lockerbie explained while the timing of the resurfacing had put them under pressure, it was important to get it done before Champs and the GST series.
He explained it would be a disservice to Jamaican athletics to host a historic international meet on the old surface.
“If we had just said ‘we’ll just let the athletes run on the old track,’ then I believe we’d be doing a disservice to our athletes and to our investments in Jamaica, so here we are with this track and here we are working with Champs.”
Champs, set for March 25-29, will be the first track meet to be presented on the new running track before the first Slam of the GST series from April 4-6.