The Accompong Maroon Parade Ground and School Playfield

Having worked most recently as a professional commercial landscaper in Alaska during my last five summers before coming to the Peace Corps and Jamaica, the first thing that caught my (Matt's) eye after our first tour of our community, way back in May 2010, was the decrepit condition of the community ball field/ school recess area and playfield, otherwise known as the Accompong Maroon Parade Ground. The Parade Ground also has significant historical and cultural importance to the community.

This area is the only, flat, playable surface of any kind, anywhere in the community large enough to sustain an event or ballgame (here it is cricket, soccer and the annual January 6th Maroon Celebration that matter most). At 200’ x 100’ it is still barely large enough for even that… able to sustain only half-field 6-on-6 matches in soccer, and for cricket the boundaries must include all the downhill and rocky slopes along with bush and farmland.

As an identified need (by the community) the revitalization of the Parade Ground, in priority need, ranks only behind the improvement of local roads, the development of a reliable, potable water supply, and the creation of jobs and additional sources of income for the local population.

So… over the past year and a half, slowly, the idea for the project has evolved and developed, grant proposals have been written and submitted to many different organizations, and fingers have been crossed. The result… about $20,000 of the estimated need of $27,000 US has been raised through contributions from CHASE Fund (not Chase Bank) Jamaica, the Tourism Enhancement Fund, USAID and National Commercial Bank (NCB) Foundation. The official title of the project is the Revitalization of the Accompong Maroon Parade Ground.

The project objectives are: 1) To construct two retaining walls, one is 175’ long and averages 6’ in height, the other is 225’ long and averages 8’ in height. The erection of these walls will allow the field to be significantly expanded in size. 2) To backfill these retaining walls with fill material up to the height of the rest of the Parade Ground. 3) To raise the level of the entire field and set the grade so that it drains properly (in its current state the field holds water and for all practical purposes is a small pond during the wet season). 4) To top the entire field with topsoil and plant it with grass (currently the field is very rocky and uneven with grass growing on about 70% of its surface. 5) To erect a chain-link fence around three sides of the field to prevent injury in the event of a fall over the edge of the retaining walls, which in some places are now over 20’ high, and to keep soccer and cricket balls from cascading down the slopes and into the bush when they are kicked or struck out of bounds.

As of today we are approximately 50% complete on the project, the retaining walls have been built and have been partially backfilled, the chain-link fence is in the beginning stages of being erected. The search for the additional funds needed to bring the project to completion continues. The hope is that by the end of our service here in May we will see the successful completion of this project for the community.

(pictures to come...)