The groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the new headquarters will take place on July 5 under the theme ‘Creating History, Building for the Next Generation’.
The overall cost of the project, which is being funded through a partnership between the JOA and the Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO), is $120 million.
Speaking on the project, JOA President Christopher Samuda said: “The headquarters will be foremost a family home for members but, importantly, it will be a centre where it will be business unusual and where the collective vision will drive a unified mission for sport and sport development.”
JOA Secretary General and CEO, Ryan Foster said it will retain its name ‘Olympic Manor’, but will be “a functional and earning asset with facilities which will provide a menu of services for our members as their needs grow and the sporting landscape evolves”.
The association said the new corporate headquarters will be a members’ manor with multi-media conference rooms, a health food store and restaurant, a sport apparel store of Olympic gear and souvenirs, an Olympic museum, a chapel and multi-purpose meeting rooms for use by member associations and federations.
President of PASO Neven Illic, in endorsing what will be a landmark achievement by the JOA, stated that the new headquarters “will be more than just rooms. It will be part of the great story of sport and a great legacy and Pan Am Sport is happy with this project and we are working closely with the Jamaica Olympic Association”.
The Pan American president in commending the vision of the JOA and expressing a commitment to continue to build a stronger relationship with Jamaica’s national governing sport association, also stated that “it is a great honour for Pan Am Sport for the JOA is important to Pan Am Sport and for us it is key to be close to the JOA and Jamaica for we can learn from you how to develop sport and how to be great in sport”.
The association noted that the Olympic Manor will be environmentally friendly and energy efficient, both of which align with the perspective of the treasurer of the JOA, Nichole Case, who maintains that “the asset will pay for the cost of the services and amenities while giving dividends to members and capital to the Olympic Movement”.
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