Construction is beginning on a new roof for the SAHOP aquatics complex in Mazatlán, Sinaloa.

Governor Quirino Ordaz Coppel presided at a ceremony yesterday to begin the project, which will provide cover over pools, diving boards and bleachers through an investment of 28 million pesos (US $1.5 million) by the state government.

The governor, who said that he himself has been a regular user of the complex, expressed confidence that the investment is a valuable first step in creating state, national and even Olympic aquatic sports champions who will be proud of their Sinaloa origins.

Ordaz’s wife, Rosy Fuentes de Ordaz, asserted that sports play an essential role in society and that the newly-covered complex will offer an alternative to “idleness” and “bad habits” for Sinaloa’s youth.

The groundbreaking ceremony was also attended by Mazatlán mayor Luis Guillermo Benítez Torres, the president of the Athletic Institute of Sinaloa, the president of the Sports Promotion Board, as well as a contingent of local athletes.

The aquatic complex currently receives an average of 1,500 visitors daily, principally children taking swimming lessons, recreational swimmers and athletes who use the facilities to train. Those present estimated that with the roof completed the facility will soon be awash in visitors numbering close to 4,000 daily.

Mazatlán Mayor Luis Guillermo Benítez Torres thanked the governor for keeping his word; putting a roof on the complex was a key campaign promise in his election. He said the sports community has long been vocal about its desire to see the completion of a roof to protect users from the sun.

Paola Moncayo Leyva, president of the Sinaloa Athletic Institute, said the roof will make the Mazatlán aquatic complex the best in all of northwestern Mexico.

Source: Milenio (sp)