The current Cuban National Baseball Series continues to be a topic of discussion, and not for the better.
The latest news is that spectator access to the left side of Calixto García baseball stadium in Holguín has been closed due to the scaffolding of the lighting towers being in a state of collapse.
The doors on the left side remained closed and will continue to do so because the scaffolding of the towers on the left side have been declared in a state of collapse," reported journalist Ernesto A. Jomarrón Cardoza recently.
The years and the lack of maintenance given to the architectural gem's towers are taking their toll, and for the time being, it was decided to close the doors of the left side and only receive the public on the right side until these scaffolds are removed and do not pose a danger to the lives of fans and players," he added.
"It is incredible that the home team will play without an audience despite being above their required quota," he concluded.
In a subsequent publication, the communicator interviewed Alejandro Vidal Hechavarría, who complained that the information has been distorted.
The manager said that the decision to close the left side of the sports facility was due to "the deplorable situation that exists in the scaffolding of the lighting towers of Calixto," and has nothing to do with the roof or walls of the stadium.
"At first, it was decided to remove these lights to reduce weight on these structures and prevent them from collapsing. Now, as a prophylactic measure, it has been decided not to allow the public in this area to protect the fans," added the stadium director.
Vidal Echavarría informed us that architects have already visited the installation and the dismantling of those elements was scheduled to prevent an accident.
The situation "was reported to the provincial government, and work is already underway to dismantle those very old equipment as soon as possible," concluded.
Despite the official correction, even if the stadium roof is not falling down, the truth is that the danger is real, despite the nuance that the "deplorable" aspect is the scaffolding of the lighting towers.
The Calixto García Stadium was founded in 1979 and Fidel Castro went so far as to qualify it as an "architectural jewel," a term that is often used by the official press to refer to that sports facility.
The Calixto García is not the only stadium that has shown structural problems in relation to the current and widely discussed National Series.
In March, a few days before the start of the event, the National Baseball Commission (CNB) detected serious problems in some fields.
According to information released at the time, they identified that several stadiums required maintenance on the mound, the turf, the dugouts, dressing rooms, and bathrooms.
They also argued that clay was needed to work the field, raise the box higher, center the home plate properly, and water more for the grass growth.