Council chairman and mayor of Falmouth Jonathan Bartley received the money last Friday on the local authority's behalf. The presentation was made by Dr Wayne Reid, who chairs the local organising committee, at the historic ground-breaking ceremony for the stadium.

An elated Bartley stated that the much needed funds would be used to undertake a number of parish projects. They include the repair to the council building at Water Square, which has long been in a state of disrepair.

"Seventy per cent (of the money) will be used to do repairs on the parish council's building while the remainder will be used to upgrade other facilities such as community centres in the parish," Bartley said.

A recent estimate of the works to be carried out on the building revealed it would cost an estimated $45-million to renovate. Bartley said, however, that the portion earmarked to carry out work on the building would be used to repair sections of the leaking roof, replace broken windows and carry out electrical repairs.

"As soon as it rains water gets into the system, resulting in a short circuit on the building," the mayor noted, stressing the need to have the situation corrected.