Large investments to “revitalize the city”

The multi-billion dollar investment to revitalize Bridgetown is expected to bring the city back to life, create jobs and help Barbados maintain its World Heritage designation.

Barbados Tourism Investment Corporation CEO Stuart Lane made this comment when discussing some of the government’s plans for the capital.

“Our cities are in decline, filled with vacant lots and dilapidated buildings, poorly maintained commercial and residential areas, and a lack of activities after get off work.

“We do need to work on that and we have already started looking at how we can change that because we live and work in the capital. We need to do a better job of presenting what the city should be like,” he said during a webinar titled “Investing in Bridgetown” hosted by the Barbados Town Planning Association on Zoom last Friday.

“For many years I have been on the World Heritage Committee and we have been told that to keep our designation we have to have a liveable city, so it is important to bring activities and accommodation to the city so that (it) doesn’t become a place we can only visit for less than seven hours a day,” Ryan said.

He said the Freedom Park at Golden Square on Fairchild Street and the Barbadian Family Memorial at National Heroes Square were some of the completed works.

The chief executive added that further work was planned in seven strategic reinvestment areas in and around historic Bridgetown and its garrison, Needham Corner, Jermott Lane, Hincks Street, Trevor Road, Kensington Oval and the Government Headquarters/Convention Centre.

He said the Marcus Garvey Amphitheater will be Queen’s Parkefforts to improve pedestrian and beach access are in the works, the Treasury building will be converted to residential housing, and the Pierhead project, which has broken ground, is expected to have a number of positive impacts over the next six years.

“We expect to add 1,500 rooms in the next five to six years, an investment of more than $1 billion. It’s not just the hotel, we will also have restaurants and ancillary facilities.

“We’ll have about 2,000 people coming into the city every day, at least 1,500 employees with permanent jobs. We’ll also get $200 million a year in revenue based on daily spending because of these hotels,” Ryan said.

He stressed that collaboration on these initiatives is crucial.

“We will ensure that in the next five to six years, we all have a city we can be proud of. However, this requires collaboration between government, the public and the community. Without collaboration, we will not see any progress.”

Douglas Patrick Luke, architect and director of Elements Architecture, the firm in charge of the Pierhead project, said several buildings on the site had already been demolished.

He said they would do their best to preserve the Spiral Jetty. “The Spiral Jetty is in a World Heritage site but none of the buildings are listed. We would be happy if that were the case, but the Spiral Jetty is the only one left in the world and it is in such good condition that it has been listed as a World Heritage Site,” Luke said.