Court order, redevelopment plans - The backstory to the Fantasy Dome demolition

On March 16, 2024, bulldozers were sent to the premises of one of Ghana's biggest event centres, the Fantasy Dome, located in the heart of Accra.

By the time they left, the 20,000-seater edifice had been pulled to the ground, leaving debris across the vast space where many popular entertainment shows had been held over the years.

Adjoining structures at the venue were not spared in videos available to GhanaWeb, as rooms that held other accoutrements like lights and sound machines had also been adversely affected.

According to the CEO of Fantasy Entertainment, Leslie Quaynor, the demolition was undertaken by state security agencies under the instructions of the Ghana Trade Fair Company.

His views are corroborated by pro-government Asaase Radio's account of events, which read in part: "The Trade Fair Company Limited, on Saturday, March 16, 2024, embarked on an exercise supervised by the Ghana Police Service with support from the National Security Ministry to take down the "Fantasy Dome" for construction works on the Trade Fair site to proceed freely."

Court injunction

Quaynor, in his interview with Sammy Flex TV, a YouTube channel, produced a copy of a January 2024 court injunction against any demolition of the structure.

"We currently have an injunction on Trade Fair and the property, which stops them from doing exactly this. There are better ways to handle this, especially when you are going against the law," he added.

"The CEO of Fantasy Entertainment has stated in a Saturday, March 17 2024, interview with a section of the media that he has an injunction, but the Trade Fair Company Limited has vehemently denied any such injunction.

"The company states that it has not been served with any court processes, and no injunction was served on the day of the demolition," the Asaase report stated.

Why Trade Fair demolished the structure?

The Asaase report detailed how the contract between the GTFC and Fantasy Entertainment had elapsed in December 2023, with GTFC needing the space for its redevelopment works.

The tenancy agreement between the owners of the Fantasy Dome and the Trade Fair Company Limited expired on December 31, 2023. Since then, all efforts by the management of the Trade Fair Company Limited to get "Fantasy Entertainment" to remove the "Fantasy Dome" from the Trade Fair site have proved futile.

Ironically, access to the portion of the site where the "Fantasy Dome" is situated at the Trade Fair site is vital for developers to construct the power and water infrastructure for the project as well as the drainage system to serve the new Ghana International Trade Fair Center. The dome has hampered the progress of these works for approximately 12 months, the report added.

The way forward:

Quaynor is obviously disappointed at the turn of events but says he will take the spiritual and legal routes to seek redress.

"I will give everything to God; I know God always shows us the right thing to do, and I will follow his direction on this. I will have to take the pictures; I will take the legal route.

"Ghana is not a lawless country, so I will take my case to the law courts and let them decide," he stressed.

The new GTFC

The new Ghana International Trade Fair Center Development Project, when completed, would have a convention and an exhibition center, a technology hub, a retail mall, commercial offices, hotel accommodations, and public realm spaces.

Infrastructure works and construction of the major exhibition centre are now underway.

SARA

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