Virtual Sports Museum for 2018/19

The Virtual Sports Museum, which will trace and showcase Jamaica’s performance in sports, is scheduled to be developed during the 2018/19 fiscal year, which begins on April 1.

Creation of the virtual museum is one of the legacy projects for Jamaica’s 55th year of Independence that were announced by the Government last year.

Senior Director of Sports Development and Monitoring in the Ministry, Florette Blackwood, said the virtual museum will enable the online viewing of certain three-dimensional sporting artefacts.

“For those who cannot physically visit Jamaica, they will be able to see everything virtually. It is one way of generating revenue and resources to ensure that the museum is maintained at the highest level,” she said.

Ms. Blackwood was speaking to JIS News, following the opening ceremony of a two-day textile conservation, preservation and exhibition workshop, at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston on January 17.

She informed that there are many sporting memorabilia and artefacts from the 40 disciplines in which Jamaica is involved that can be showcased in a virtual museum.

“So, we will have many of the most interesting and exciting pieces on display in cyberspace,” she said.

She anticipates that by year end, “there will be some semblance” of a virtual museum.

Turning to the establishment of a physical sports museum at the Independence Park complex, Ms. Blackwood informed that a national strategic development plan for the facility has been drafted.

“The plan looks at various phases of development and has been completed. We are finalising the documentation and will be submitting it to the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) where we have the Public Investment Management Secretariat,” she indicated.