Several tents formerly belonging to Cirque Du Soleil will be used as government headquarters
Several tents formerly belonging to Cirque Du Soleil will be used as government headquartersSeveral large circus tents previously used by Cirque du Soleil are on their way to Haiti to be used as a temporary headquarters for the Port-au-Prince government, according to the man donating them.
The self-contained tents would replace government buildings destroyed a month ago by the devastating earthquake that killed at least 2 lakh people, Nevada real estate developer Tom Schrade said on Thursday.
Comfortable: The tents have 33,000 sq ft of floor space, including
heating and air-conditioning systems. file PIC
An urgent effort is under way to provide shelter in Haiti, ahead of the rainy season expected to hit the island nation at the end of March. Much of the government is operating in small tents or cramped quarters in buildings that survived the January 12 earthquake.
Schrade, who bought the tents after Cirque du Soleil retired them, said his wife got the idea to donate them while they were watching the coverage of Haiti relief efforts. "It seemed like a good thing to do," Schrade said.
Well-appointedThe tents have 33,000 square feet of interior floor space, including heating and air conditioning systems, interior and exterior lighting, toilets and 900 padded chairs, Schrade said. Thirteen steel shipping containers hold the 400,000 pounds of cargo.
"Even the shipping containers can serve as apartments," Schrade added.
After an aide to the Port-au-Prince mayor confirmed the government would welcome the tents, Schrade said he called Barron Hiltonu00a0-- the son of Hilton hotel founder Conrad Hiltonu00a0-- for help in getting them from the storage in Reno, Nevada, to Haiti.
The Conrad Hilton Foundation, already involved in Haiti relief projects, agreed to finance the shipment, he said. Gregory Anderson, the international project manager for the Hilton Foundation, confirmed its participation.
En routeThe William J Clinton Foundationu00a0-- the former US president's non-profit group --will coordinate getting the big tents to Port-au-Prince. A convoy of tractor-trailer trucks left Reno with the tents bound for the port of Miami, Florida, said Schrade.
They'll be loaded onto a ship chartered by the Clinton Foundation next week for the voyage to Port-au-Prince. Technicians hired by Schrade will travel there to supervise the set up.
The tents, which initially cost about $5million, were first used a decade ago.
