St Elizabeth’s jubilee project to miss Independence target
Published:Tuesday | July 26, 2022 | 12:08 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Black River Mayor Derrick Sangster has said that a St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation project to upgrade the E.V. Allen meeting room into a museum, among other things, will not be completed in time for Jamaica’s Diamond Jubilee Independence celebrations on August 6.
According to Sangster, who chairs the corporation, the plans for the multimillion-dollar project to refurbish and retrofit the building are still at a delicate stage.
“We had initially estimated that it would cost in the region of approximately $10 million but mind you, it will eventually cost more than that. It’s a lot of work to be done in restoring the facility,” he told The Gleaner on Monday.
“Technically we might have to engage the services of one of these specialist contractors who deal with heritage buildings,” he added. “We have identified one, but I don’t think it will materialise in time for the actual Independence Day celebration.”
Sangster said that among the challenges is with the fact that the building, which houses the E.V. Allen meeting room, is vested in the management of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust.
The meeting room, which is named in honour of a former politician and St Elizabeth businessman, was the original chamber of the corporation for many decades and is now earmarked to become a museum in Black River.
“It is a heritage site and the process of getting approval might drag on a little longer,” the mayor noted, pointing out that since the corporation has relocated to a new building, the original meeting facility has deteriorated significantly.
He also argued that while the project will be delayed, the people of the parish will not be denied the usual services provided by their respective councillors or by the municipal corporation.
The current meeting chamber of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation, which was built at a cost of approximately $20 million, was opened in 2015.