Bay Stadium goes extra green mile

RECENTLY named one of Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism’s top ten city icons, the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is an increasingly valuable addition to the cityscape, the city’s tourism body believes, as it grows in stature.

The innovative, iconic venue and conference facility has embraced green ideologies and joined the eco-friendly meetings industry in the process.

It has also managed to exceed its post-2010 World Cup expectations by hosting huge music stars, big concerts and exciting international sporting events.

“The stadium – what can I say? It’s the new home for events in the city,” said NMBT marketing manager, Titus Chuene. “It’s an inspiring, permanent asset to the city and it has enabled Nelson Mandela Bay to reach new heights – both for sports and other events and also as a meetings and exhibition space.”

It has scooped some major awards along the way: the 2011 IOC/IAKS bronze award in the category of major outdoor stadiums and the CESA Glenrand M.I.B. Award for Soccer Stadium of 2010.

The stadium has also established itself as a first class conference venue, boasting 48 VIP suites, two business suites, 10 function rooms including a conference room, and other venues able to accommodate up to 550 delegates in a cocktail-style.

The multi-purpose stadium prides itself on being ‘green’ and regards energy efficiency and eco-friendly practices of the “utmost importance”. Its environmental awareness does not, however, end at low-consumption lighting and temperature control systems.

“As part of our greening program we value recycling practices. Not only is waste from games and other events separated and recycled, but proceeds go towards expanding our recycling efforts,” said Buli Ngomane, Nelson Mandela Bay stadium marketing manager.

The stadium also engages in the Urban Raptor project, another effort to preserve nature by using natural poison-free pest control methods. As a result the stadium has been declared the only poison-free stadium in the world. “We cannot ignore the urgency of being a responsible facility and are proud of our greening endeavours to date,” Ngomane added.

Poison-free methods to control pests are also used the Port of Ngqura just outside the city, and at the Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park. As a waterworks initiative, the stadium also makes use of water from the adjacent North End Lake for its plant irrigation.

These factors – and others – have set the stadium apart, the city’s tourism body believes, priming it for future meetings and events success.

“The stadium has brought many wonderful social and economic benefits to the Bay. As a continuously developing tourism feature, it holds much promise for the city in years to come, without losing sight of its impact on the community and environment that surrounds it,” added Chuene.