The Institute of Secondary Education (IES) of Acentejo’s Victory It will finally recover its sports fields seven years after its closure due to the appearance of cracks and the instability of the terrain. The works, valued at about 800,000 eurosare already underway and, despite the fact that the project had to be partially modified, the objective is maintained that they are finished on time for the start of the 2023-2024 school year, in September of this year.
After the demolition of the old courts and the clearing of the land, work is now focused on the foundation, which has begun in the area of the wall closest to the access road to the municipality. According to the mayor, Juan Antonio Garcia Abreu (PSOE)“there was a small delay due to the modification of the project due to the fact that the results of the geotechnical study in one of the corners of the plot were erroneous and micropiles had to be inserted in a part of the wall that faces the ravine to gain security. We want things to look good and last.”
“Before the start of the next academic year, the pitches will be finished and we continue working to try to obtain financing for the roofing projectto which we do not renounce ”, underlines the socialist mayor.
Abreu recalls that when he came to the government, in June 2019, “we find some abandoned fields, with weeds and sealed. In 2023 and after a lot of work together with the Government of the Canary Islands, which presides Angel Victor Torres (PSOE)the new fields will be a reality so that no other class of students is left without a much-needed space for their educational training”.
The main novelty of this action is the new north-south orientation that the fields will have with respect to the current arrangement, which is from east to west. In this way, the upper track will be on the same line as the lower track, which will be at a level 1.5 meters lower. With this new provision, one of the courts will have larger dimensions, which will allow it to be approved for sports competitions. Also, two bleacher areas have been projectedone for the upper court, next to the northeast retaining wall, and another smaller one that will facilitate communication and reduce the impact of the unevenness between the two spaces. A flexible and resistant pavement of intensive use will be placed and the lighting and rainwater collection pipes will be replaced.
“Before the start of the next academic year, the fields will be finished and we will continue working to try to obtain financing for the roofing project”
The action also contemplates building low-sloping ramps that will connect both tracks and, in turn, the courts with the outside. This last connection, which links to Mencey Bencomo Avenue, will be made with sufficient width for the regular passage of maintenance vehicles and also to facilitate access for people with reduced mobility. The width of this auxiliary entrance has been projected “thinking about the future work of the roof of the main court, so enough space has been left for the passage of trucks with materials”, details the mayor.
The management of IES La Victoria, students and families they demanded since 2016 the rehabilitation of these fields, which were closed to use because they presented problems with settlement and cracks in the pavements, and cracks in the retaining wall located between them, which in recent years has prevented students from practicing sports in these spaces a center that has already completed 30 years. The sporting activity has had to move these years to the football field nearby, which forces you to cross a busy road, since it is the access to the municipality from the TF-5.
