After the announcement of the cooperation between the Harare City Council and City Parking a few days ago, the renovations of the Rufaro Stadium are back on track with some work already in progress.
Due to years of neglect, the stadium, which is part of Zimbabwe’s rich football history, has fallen into disrepair. Football matches in the top division were last played there in 2019. The ZIFA First Instance Board red-flagged it in 2020 and declared it unfit to host premier football.
City Parking Public Relations manager Francis Mandaza said on Monday that they were expecting to have the stadium back in good condition by mid-next month. Mandaza is quoted as saying:
City Parking has started construction work at Rufaro Stadium on the agreed scope of work which includes perimeter wall, shopping complex, parking lot and B arena ground.
Our contractors are already on the ground with their construction equipment ready to start work. We have already procured most of the needed building materials including 120,000 bricks, river sand, pit sand and cement among other materials.
Our expectations are that by mid-March we should be nearing project completion.
The stadium had become an eyesore and will require a lot of work to meet the required standards.
The stadium’s outer wall was in terrible shape, and basic infrastructure maintenance has been an issue. The open space outside the ground was turned into a dumping site while part of the car park had been occupied by trucks and vendors.
According to a statement released by the Harare City Council recently, as part of the project, City Parking, a major source of revenue for the council, will carry out works outside the main stadium. Harare City Council spokesperson, Innocent Ruwende, confirmed the city council has started work at the stadium.
Concerns are still lingering on the renovation of the structures inside the stadium which include the run-down changing rooms, the press tribune, the toilets, the bucket seats, turnstiles and the turf.
The City Council was criticised last year after cancelling a lease agreement with Sakunda Holdings. The energy giants had set aside investments in the region of US$5 million for the project but the deal collapsed amid accusations and counter-accusations from both parties.
