Brand New €2.5 Million Handball Pavilion Dedicated To Louis Borg Opens In Ħamrun
A €2.5 million investment has paid off, as Sports Minister Clifton Grima inaugurated a newly constructed handball pavilion at the Maria Assunta Sports Complex in Ħamrun.
“This pavilion will serve to nurture this sport and to attract more youngsters toward this beautiful game,” said SportMalta CEO Mark Cutajar.
The complex has been posthumously dedicated to former President of the Maltese Association of Handball, Louis Borg – who passed away in 2021 at the age of 85. Malta has never before had a hall built specifically for handball – and this first dedicated pavilion boasts some impressive features.
This hall was built along International Handball Federation specifications. It is equipped with uniform lighting to improve visibility and reduce shadows – to enhance safety during use – but also has electric blinds making it easy to play by natural light whenever desired.
The building’s iron structure has been covered with insulation to best ensure that the pavilion can be used throughout summer with minimal air conditioning, but the facility has also been designed with self-regulating extractors and windows that open mechanically to control air circulation and temperature.
Though the hall will be primarily used for handball training – for adults and children – temperature regulation will be particularly important when the facility is full of even more warm bodies, as the hall can accommodate the presence of up to 155 spectators.
Ħamrun’s Maria Assunta Sports Complex has been receiving investment for improvements across several facilities in recent years. These have included a €700,000 investment towards the development of Malta’s first snooker academy and a new football field.
Plans for a multi-sport pavilion are in the works, along with plans to build halls for table football, and even bowling.
The Louis Borg SportMalta Handball Pavilion honours a figure who spent 25 years at the helm of the Malta Handball Association, enjoyed a lengthy career in sports administration, co-founded the Malta Basketball Association and served as technical director on the Maltese Olympic Committee for several years.
“Today’s inauguration is the continuation of our work which is seeing strong investment in sports facilities around our country,” said Grima.
“This work reflects what we promised, to continue investing in sports facilities to make them accessible to everyone and as close to you as possible. Our vision for this field affects everyone who practices some physical activity, from people who do basic training to professional athletes whose sport is their passion and career.”
This facility’s inauguration represents an interest in promoting and improving the quality of handball played in Malta, which is excellent news for the handball community.
If similar investments are made into improving facilities for other sporting entities, this news could also be encouraging for other athletic communities seeking to grow and improve their sports.
Tag someone who needs to throw a ball around in this new pavilion
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