Once upon a time, the Mexico Sports Center, which sits next to the Marion Jones' stadium, hosted grand basketball, volleyball, and even table tennis tournaments. It was a multipurpose sporting facility that cost millions of dollars to construct - and it was a gift to Belize from the government of Mexico.
There was controversy during the construction phase, caused by seemingly endless delays. It finally opened its doors two years after the proposed date. And two years later, it closed them.
Three years after Hurricane Lisa, and those doors are now wide open, except they've been torn down, leaving a ghastly sight for anyone who would enter. And anyone can enter, since there is no security guard, aside from the raccoons and iguanas that call it home.
And today, our news team went inside. Courtney Menzies has this story.
This is the first sight that currently greets visitors to the Mexico Sports Center - a door that's been ripped off its hinges, just lying there, allowing anyone - or any animal - to get inside. And it doesn't get much better after that.
Before the 2022 hurricane, there was a beaming bamboo indoor court - today all that remains are these rotten boards skirting the court area. Rain water has puddled where the court use to be, we saw one functional basketball rim, another lying disused, and the only audience this stadium has is paper cups - among the other garbage lying around.
Where does the water come from? The roofing has gaping holes where water no doubt sweeps in during rains. The scoreboard is blank and the only sign of recent activity is some Christmas party leftovers from the Pickstock area rep.
The back doors are propped up my metal bars, with the wreckage of the stadium directly outside - presumably from Hurricane Lisa.
Upstairs, the lights are still on, and a lone pingpong paddle lies on the ground - a reminder of the tournaments recently held here. Algae is blooming in the still water on the verandah that once greeted visitors. A sign is taped onto the main doors which reads "temporarily closed." How temporary is yet to be seen.
The Mexico Sports Center was officially opened in January 2020 and its glory days lasted for two years, until Hurricane Lisa hit. Since then, it's been forgotten and left in ruin and disrepair - until recently, when the Vice President of the International Volleyball Federation was aghast at the state it was in.
Following that visit, UDP's Shane Williams - who is on the Belize Softball Federation - lashed out at the government for their abandonment of the center.
Shane Williams, UDP Candidate, Queen Square
"Hurricane Lisa hit in 2022, November of 2022. And look at how the Mexico Center is in January of 2025. And of all the centers, all of the sport centers in Belize, that would have been the last one that I thought they would have abandoned. You remember when COVID, when our athletes couldn't play basketball, couldn't play any of their sports, you know Mexico Center was locked up like Fort Knox with ministers playing basketball during that time. Your favorite ministers, locked up in Mexico Center, police security around while they played sports while the rest of the country was on lockdown."
Williams didn't stop there - he also called out the PUP for the other sporting facilities that they have left by the wayside.
Shane Williams, UDP Candidate, Queen Square
"It took a foreigner to embarrass us, but we didn't need a foreigner to tell us that the Roger's Stadium has been neglected, the only softball facility that should be hosting national and international games has been totally abandoned. Same Hurricane Lisa took the roof, same Hurricane Lisa knocked down the fence and it's January of 2025 and the roof is still gone."
"It took a foreigner to embarrass us for us to know that the People's Stadium needs some attention, that one is in the prime minister's hometown. We don't need any foreigner to tell us that this government needs to do basic maintenance of our sporting facilities."
"The Ramos Stadium, the Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Falcon Field, the Civic Center, all they needed to do was maintain it but they don't care about sports. Because the Minister of Sports doesn't know anything about sports."
The Mexico Sports Center was first announced in 2015 after a 10 million grant from the Mexican Government.
Ten years later, it looks like it will take a few million more to restore its full glory - but does government have the will to do it? Until then its battered appearance will remain as a monument to administrative indifference.
We reached out to the Minister of Sports, Rodwell Ferguson, but up to news time, we have not received any response.
Notably, even when it was completed, the facility never met standards and had leaks and court defects even before Hurricane Lisa blew off the roof.
The original grant was for 10.5 million dollars. After management fees by an agency called UNOPS, in the end, reports say about 5.5 went into the construction and design.
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