Bringing A Piece of Sports History Back To Life

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NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS – Kasimu “Kazi” Ellis is known widely for his decorative work, whether it’s his creative independence tributes or the thousands of lightbulbs hung around the island during the Christmas season.

But this time he had a unique project.

He says while clearing out an old container he purchased, he came across an important part of history.

“I started to read, said plaque and lo and behold. It was the original plaque from the Andre Rogers baseball stadium, which was dedicated by the former Prime Minister sir Lynden pindling and I was like I have a piece of history in front of me. I can’t let it go to the dumps”

So Kazi went to work.

He took the plaque home and worked hard to restore it to its original glory.

“There are 475 characters on said plaque and each one of them about probably a quarter of an inch and eight so I used a Dremel tool and I had to basically sign each letter on each character. I had to bring in a guy and guy to basically match the paint in the background cause of course it was discolored. It was rust was all over it, but whatever was resting on. It had had the rust drained on top of it and all that so I had to soak it for a while.”

Despite the long process, Kazi says it became a passion project.

“When I saw it, the first thing came to mine was I got to give it back to the country. This is not something I could put in my collection as you can see I’m a collector.”

The Andre Rodgers Baseball stadium was opened back in 2022 in its current location.

But did you know that the original stadium was located where the current Thomas A Robinson track and field stadium is located?

That facility was demolished later on.

Now the seasoned decorator says one day he hopes to see the plaque hanging up at the current facility.

“I hope they put it somewhere of prestige where the children are the baseball players of the day you know look at it see what the possibilities and what you could do in which you could achieve”