Locals want Emancipation Square’s potential unshackled

Locals are expressing a burning desire for the authorities to breathe new life into the crumbling structures in the historic Emancipation Square in the Old Capital and make it once again attractive to tourists as the island celebrates 60 years of Independence this summer.

Maxine Mullings recalls her days as a curious primary school student travelling through the historic Spanish Town location – which boasts some of the most significant sites and monuments of the country’s history, including Old King’s House, the old House of Assembly; and the Old Courthouse – and seeing throngs of tourists who flocked to the site.

“Dem time deh the park did nice, man,” said Mullings, who added that tourists would often snap photos of students passing by on their way to and from school.

Although a few visitors occasionally venture to the area still to admire the redbrick walls and the classical Georgian-styled buildings of the People’s Museum, the park and the Old Courthouse, which was the last unit built to complete the square at a cost of £15,700 in 1819, the numbers are nothing compared to the heyday.

One local, who gave his name only as Dwayne, believes it is time to give more attention to preserving the square’s legacy.

On August 1, 1834, the Emancipation proclamation was read from the steps of the Old King’s House in Spanish Town, which was the capital of Jamaica from 1534 until that status shifted to Kingston in 1872.

With the St Catherine Municipal Corporation building still in use, staffer Willie Collymore told The Gleaner that other areas could be taken care of as well.

“Is a nice likkle place, but it want develop more and fix up over dah side here,” he said, pointing to the Old Courthouse.

The property had previously served as a cemetery and hosted a chapel and was altered and used as a small weapons arsenal.

Later, it was demolished and the court was built and its upper storey utilised as a town hall until it was destroyed by fire in 1986.

Since then, it has remained largely unchanged.

Collymore is hoping the area will become lively once again through a rebirth similar to that given to Fort Charles – the first fort to be erected in Port Royal – which serves as a tourist destination.

“Tree a grow inna di building; the place old. It can look better than this to attract tourist,” Dwayne said, adding that more statues could be installed to tell the history of the location and a craft market established to attract more tourists and offer job opportunities to locals.

Former Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) Chairman Ainsley Henriques told The Gleaner that as one of the organisation’s longest-serving chairmen, on numerous occasions, he had attempted to have repairs done to some of Jamaica’s heritage sites, including the Old Capital and the Morant Bay Courthouse, but nothing major has been realised.

“That courthouse is the icon of social justice,” he asserted, stressing that it would be a shame not to consider rehabilitation.

“We seem to have a lot of effort to do all sorts of things like building hotels, but we don’t want to recognise where we come from,” he lamented. “That’s my real problem in Jamaica. We don’t understand our history, our heritage. We are not doing anything to recognise who we are.”

Henriques said further that with Spanish Town being one of the oldest capitals in the Western Hemisphere, the current “disgraceful” state of the buildings would shock the ancestors who helped to build the structures.

A representative of the JNHT, which is an agency tasked with preserving the nation’s heritage sites, buildings and monuments, informed The Gleaner that she was unaware of any plans to refurbish the area this year.

She, however, hinted that there may be plans to take a look at the area some time in the near future.

Spanish Town Mayor Norman Scott said that the People’s Museum was still being used and holds treasured artefacts which can be viewed by the public.

He noted that nothing could be done to the structures unless approved by the JNHT.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com

FUN FACT:

The former town centre, now known as Emancipation Square, consisted of four buildings, namely: the Old King’s House constructed in 1762, now known as the People’s Museum; The Old House of Assembly now being used as the St Catherine Municipal Corporation; Rodney’s Memorial built in honour of Admiral Lord George Brydges Rodney, who led the British to victory over a French fleet that had attempted to invade Jamaica in 1782; and The Old Courthouse, which was built in 1819.