The highly anticipated floodlight installation at Bernard Park has been thrown into jeopardy as a result of spiralling costs and continued delays in construction.

North Village took possession of a set of four state-of-the-art lights exactly a year ago as part of a redevelopment plan funded through an $870,000 grant from Fifa, which was distributed by the Bermuda Football Association.

However, the project has stalled with the club left waiting on the arrival of supporting piles for the foundation with that infrastructure imperative due to the marshy terrain on which the ground sits.

At the semi-annual congress, which was held at Devonshire Recreation Club on Thursday night, Mark Wade, the BFA president, revealed that the price of the necessary material and construction work for the piles alone has soared by 160 per cent — from $236,000 to $613,000 — with the cost of the entire project predicted to increase from $731,000 to nearly $1 million.

“We are just as surprised as you are. That price increase is purely for the piles and work to install them,” said Wade, speaking to stakeholders at the congress.

“The size of the increase was certainly surprising, but we have exhausted every avenue in terms of alternative ways to do this project.

“It is a big jump, but it is consistent with price increases around the world, especially after the Covid pandemic and the supply issues that caused. The cost of material has increased and this is no different.”

As a result of the major setback, the viability of even continuing with the original plan has been called into question.

Despite an impassioned plea from Shervin Dill, North Village president, imploring fellow clubs to agree to persist with the project, a motion was passed to consider alternative venues for the floodlights if construction work has not been started by March.

“If we are not able to get the project going by March, I believe the motion is to consider other venues to install the lights that we have on island now,” added Wade, speaking to The Royal Gazette.

“North Village have invested some funds into this project, namely planning permission, drawings and mechanical engineering and the rest was through Fifa through the BFA.

“The materials are on island already. All of the poles, lighting fixtures and everything else is here. The only new issue would be to do a site visit of any potential new venue and design the foundation, which may not include the pile foundations.

“Unfortunately, the North Village ground is all marsh land and so it needs the piles in place, whereas other venues such as St David’s, St George’s and Somerset Bridge are venues that immediately come to mind that may be easier.

“However, it will be a case of potentially crossing that bridge when we get to it. If we are unable to get the project going then that is the situation.

“We’d love to see this project stay at North Village, but I will say that we have to have an eye on alternatives and have had to put a timeline on it.”

Any decision on agreeing to the cost increase for completion of the installation at Bernard Park or to use an alternative site now rests with the clubs through another vote.

“The next step of this decision is the clubs,” said Wade.

“The project at North Village was initially presented to, and approved, by congress some years ago and so therefore it will also be for the congress to decide whether we continue with that project or we consider somewhere else. We will have to come together again and vote to decide that.

“There is only one company on island that can drive piles the depth that is required [at Bernard Park] and so we have already had discussions with them.

“The contractor is happy to proceed as soon as the season ends on the assumption that the piles have been shipped and received on island.”

Whichever solution is ultimately agreed upon, Wade has warned that any further costs will have a continued impact on the BFA’s total funding of about $4 million until 2026.

“We have a pool of money, but there is not new money coming in and so whatever extra we have to spend on this project cannot be spent elsewhere,” added Wade, who also warned of potential further cost increases due to ongoing delays in the work starting.

“As with other recent infrastructure projects, some funding has come from Fifa, but some of the costs will also have to be absorbed elsewhere.

“We will go back to Fifa for additional funding, but the increase will affect the pool of funding money we have down the line.

“We previously had funding set aside for smaller infrastructure projects under $50,000 that we have had to shelve. We will look at it again at some stage, but that won’t be in the near future.

“We’d love to say that there won’t be another cost increase, but the longer it takes there is potential for another increase.”