A New Empire as the true heart of City renewal

For more than three decades, the Empire Theatre has drifted from abandonment to disrepair to ruin, now crumbling and forgotten. Yet, this could be no better moment than to resuscitate this historic venue as the beating heart of Bridgetown’s revitalisation.

Consider the substantial, recent and future investments poured into revitalising our capital city. The Pierhead development has finally begun to transform the waterfront into a bustling hotel and tourism hub. The Golden Square Freedom Park has already become a beloved green space and community gathering place. Retail corridors like Fairchild Street and Cheapside are being rejuvenated to draw shoppers back to the city centre.  

If a city needs residents to ensure its survival, the residents need a significant attraction for entertainment and culture. 

And yet, like the Carnegie Library on Coleridge Street, the Empire is a neglected temple of arts and letters, gaping holes in the fabric of Bridgetown’s cultural landscape. All this, despite the rhetoric of renewal first uttered 30 years ago by a young minister of culture who has now risen to become the First Among Equals at the helm of government. If parks are the proverbial lungs of a city, then surely a national performance centre for theatre, music, and film is its very heart, like NAPA in Port of Spain. Without this vital organ, our city cannot reach its full potential.

One hundred and two years ago, the Empire Theatre was unveiled as a crown jewel of performance, the birthplace of the modern theatre movement in this country. Its ornate architecture and grand stage were the outward signs of inward cultural reach that helped cement Bridgetown as a cultural capital. It could be so again. 

A city’s restoration cannot lie solely in a marketplace or recreational or even residential space. The ongoing developments transforming Bridgetown provide a unique opportunity to not merely restore an historic theatre but transform it into the centrepiece of the City’s cultural renaissance. 

A New Empire Centre would bring world-class performances, whether home-grown or from other shores. What better role for culture and creativity as economic drivers, attracting audiences, visitors and investment to the heart of Bridgetown? What better time to give a double shot of adrenaline to our moribund theatre movement and create a premium cinema for the very best of Barbadian film?

We do not need a monument to ego but a selfless legacy for national artistry, creativity and cultural patrimony. We see the New Empire as both a magnet and hub for cultural enrichment and community engagement, inspiring the next generation of Barbadian artists, performers and filmmakers and creating new audiences for concerts, drama, dance and movies.

The last administration’s grandiose plans for an additional craft brewery and bar should not be dismissed merely because this administration didn’t think of it. Surely we are better – and smarter than that. Surely. This merely demonstrates that the Empire’s restoration is non-partisan, not a non-starter.

The people of Bridgetown, like the rest of the nation, have waited a very long time, far too long for the rebirth of the Empire Theatre. We propose not mere restoration but reimagining that coincides with, and adds rich value to, the capital’s other signature developments.

A New Empire Centre for film and performance can build on a great legacy to create that beating heart of Bridgetown, pulsating with a young republic’s vibrant culture and creative energy.