yesterday -- damping fears that Island firms would be squeezed out of the multi-million dollar project.

However it was also revealed that the centre's athletics track might have to be ripped up a second time after engineers discovered water seeping under the surface.

Bookings for the track are not being taken for July, August and September because of the problem.

Architects Cooper and Gardner, engineers Woodbourne Associates, cost consultants Russel J. Eddy and landscapers Landscape Consultants Ltd. have been chosen to work on the multi-million dollar project.

They will work with Canada-based Johnston Sport Architecture which has been hired by the Sports Centre Trustees as the lead company in the scheme.

"We have got to the stage where we can appoint Bermudian people to work on the project,'' said Donald Lines, chairman of the National Sports Centre Trustees.

"It is going to be a lot bigger job than anything I expected to get involved with and it requires a lot of experts and a big team to get it done properly,'' he added.

A master plan for the centre has been finished but on May 4 the whole team will go to Canada for a week-long brainstorming session with Johnston Sport Architecture.

Another session will be held in September to iron out any minor problems and it is hoped the centre will be built in time for the Millenium.

The team was chosen from a list of 14 Bermudian individuals or companies which applied for work on the project.

John Gardner, of Cooper and Gardner, said the interview process was one of the most rigorous he had experienced.

He added: "We are involved from the beginning to the end of the project, which is not always the case in projects like this.'' It was feared that no local firms would be involved in the scheme, prompting protests from the Institute of Bermuda Architects, the Bermuda Association of Professional Engineers and former trustee Miles Outerbridge.

Last night Institute president Colin Campbell said he was pleased to see a strong Bermudian contingent involved in the project.

"It has always been our stand that the scale and type of work was not so complex that a group such as Cooper and Gardner could not do the job from the start.'' However, he warned: "If it appears that the Bermuda contingent has been used as window dressing we will again be asking some serious questions regarding a national Bermuda project built by Canadians.'' Mr. Outerbridge, who resigned as a trustee partly over a row over Bermudian involvement, also welcomed the news.

"I felt that Bermudian professionals were being bypassed for this project, which was really quite wrong,'' said Mr. Outerbridge. "To a certain extent this has answered my criticisms, but at this point I do not know to what extent Bermudians are being involved.'' Meanwhile it emerged yesterday that there were more problems with the existing sports track, which has been relaid once already for repairs to be carried out. Both overseas companies involved have since gone bankrupt.

Water is seeping under the track, forcing the surface from the base and if the fault cannot be corrected it is possible the track will have to be ripped up and replaced.

"We understand the symptoms and we are trying to find the cause. We should know within the next month and then decide what the appropriate remedy is,'' said Bob Johnston, of Johnston Sport Architecture.

However the only way to get a guarantee on any work carried out would be to replace the whole track. No firm would guarantee just repairs. It could cost more than $500,000 just to fix the surface, the trustees said.

MASTER PLAN -- The proposed National Sports Centre in Prospect.