Kingston Creative seeks $30m for next phase of downtown transformation
Published:Friday | July 26, 2024 | 12:09 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
Andrea Dempster Chung, executive director of Kingston Creative, acknowledges that despite millions already invested in downtown Kingston’s iconic art district, an additional $30 million is required to sustain the ongoing transformation efforts.
When the Government called years ago for persons and organisations to invest and reinvest in downtown Kingston, Dempster Chung, an engineer by profession, saw hope in the dull, dirty, and neglected walls lining Water Lane.
Her vision led to her co-founding Kingston Creative and kickstarting the effort to reposition the street into a major tourist attraction.
Dempster Chung believes that the time has now come for the closed store shutters on Water Lane, where the Kingston Creative Art Walk is located, to reopen with entertainment, nightlife offerings, coffee shops, and proper seating to complement the artwork district.
To achieve this, the Kingston Creative team on Wednesday launched The Downtown Transformation Programme – Phase II, which is geared at raising $30 million.
“ ... This [money] is to install the seating, the shading, the lighting, the activations, and so forth, and so we’re looking for people – everyone, corporates, individuals, [the] diaspora, [and] locals – to donate so we can reach this target so that in September, we can start to actually work on installing this,” she said.
Dempster Chung noted that this investment would result in more visitors, growth in tour revenues, increase spending in nearby hotels and on entertainment events, and also boost Brand Jamaica.
At the launch, the Digicel Foundation and PricewaterhouseCoopers – both of which are located metres away from Water Lane – were the first to donate $3 million each.
Additionally, the National Baking Company Limited/Continental Baking Company Limited adopted a block and will pay for a muralist to transform the dead walls.
“We have developed 111 murals, so what’s next? Adopt-a-Block, the second chapter in the story of [The] Downtown Kingston Transformation Programme. There are eight blocks along Water Lane between the Institute of Jamaica on East Street and the National Gallery on Orange Street, so these are the blocks to which we are referring,” Dempster Chung said.
“Many people have put a lot into changing the trajectory of this city, and I want to put it to you that this is our moment. This is the time that we can come together and change the narrative around our city. Let’s do something about it,” she added.
For his part, Kingston Mayor Andrew Swaby noted that the work of Kingston Creative has provided hope through the murals and paintings for the downtrodden people who walk on Water Lane to go to work and often face depression.
“Art, in all its forms, provides therapy. It stimulates the mind. It conveys messages more effectively than words sometimes can. The KSAMC (Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation) knows the value and the potential of this initiative, and we are happy to join hands and hearts with Kingston Creative in making this initiative a success,” Swaby said.
The KSAMC and Kingston Creative signed a memorandum of understanding in 2023, where both organisations have been partnering to create and maintain a clean, comfortable, and inviting space for artists and art lovers.