The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.
The news on Wednesday that government will develop the Glendairy Prison site and has vested it in the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc. (BTII) is good news, coming 16 years after its closure and eight years after the proposal for its development submitted to the BTII.
The celebration of the decommissioning of Glendairy Prison on October 29th, 2016, five years ago, captured the imagination of the media, and the tours given to nearly 500 visitors that day created widespread interest and curiosity. Glendairy has five major buildings on a walled, 14 acre site, and the huge Male Block is the most magnificent building in Barbados.
Those who haven’t enjoyed the hospitality of the prison are unaware of this amazing treasure. Potential for redevelopment and adaptive re-use is great. This can be done by private developers at absolutely no cost to government, for the enjoyment of locals and visitors.
So let’s go back to the beginning.
Glendairy was opened in 1854, served for 151 years and was damaged by fire on March 29th, 2005. Contrary to popular reports and belief, it was not destroyed. Portions of buildings were gutted, by my estimate about 8 per cent.
These were the central entrance block to the magnificent male prison, a male block near the female prison (one fifth of that complex), the kitchen, bakery and mess hall.
Most of the massive male block, with its beautiful arcaded West façade – 72 arches on three floors – was undamaged, and with the long spooky corridors in the enormous East wing and the gigantic stairs and courtyard, it’s the kind of spectacle that amazes and fascinates visitors to prison museums. Other parts of the prison would need repairs and air conditioning for displays and other uses.
I organised a series of visits with senior prison officers and other interested persons, including visiting preservation experts, engineers and architects, Cabinet ministers, senators and tourism officials.
Various possibilities for re-use were discussed, including conversion to hotel accommodation, condominia, a culture complex, a prison museum, entertainment centre, workshops or mixed use, as in other historic prisons.
I visited four prison museums in Britain – Bodmin Jail in Cornwall, The Clink on the South Bank in London (a 13th century prison, which gave its name to being in jail or in the clink), the Tower of London, and Kilmainam Jail in Dublin – just four of the 100 plus prison museums around the world.
I wrote a report for the National Trust, pro bono, and submitted it to the relevant authorities – the Attorney General, Superintendent of HMP Dodds, Ministry of Tourism, BTMI, BTPA, BTII, and others.
The conclusion, given wide verbal support, was the recommendation for Glendairy to be put out to tender to a private developer, for mixed use as a combined Prison Museum and Entertainment Centre.
The major reason for rejecting other ideas such as development into a hotel or condominia or other living accommodation is the enormous cost of such adaptations, which would need mammoth structural work at very high cost. A prison museum requires only modest structural, preservation work and expense, while varied entertainment projects can be provided with modest investment.
Prison Museums around the world attract huge numbers of visitors. There are some 40 in the USA and 25 in Britain. Of course, the Tower of London, Alcatraz in California, Sing Sing in New York and Robben’s Island in South Africa, where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated, are among the most famous.
When I visited Dublin’s Kilmainam jail, I queued for forty minutes, because it attracts 1,000 visitors a day, and 350,000 a yearalmost as many as our entire annual stay-over visitors before COVID!! Prison museums are almost always the most popular visitor attractions anywhere My project proposal details some of the obvious possibilities for development at Glendairy.
They include:
• The male block as the main museum building, with the ghoulish atmosphere, the dramatic architecture including the gutted (tidied up) front entrance, and especially the Gallows room, as major attractions. Guided tours would include “ghost tours” and night tours, where the ghoulish element is especially appealing and hugely successful with young people. And it’s the stories of characters and mystery that enthral everyone.
• A major fascination of many prison museums, especially for children, are tableaux featuring dramatic scenes with mannequins of criminals committing heinous crimes – i.e. dramatic scenes depicting real criminal stories such as vicious murders.
• Comprehensive displays in a museum setting can include illustration of punishments such as the notorious floggings with the cato-nine tails, lists of prison rules, diet in the old days (bread and water in the distant past!), notorious prisoners, famous escapes, ghost stories and hard labour, History of crime and punishment in Barbados, from earliest colonial settlement to modern times, e.g. models of the rack and equipment for “drawing and quartering” – morbidly fascinating everywhere they are displayed!
A broader history of crime and punishment around the world, displays of the 1816 rebellion, 1876 Confederation Riots, 1937 “Riots”; displays of Nazi concentration camps; world-wide torture methods; the story of the redlegs; model of a guillotine; and stories of notorious criminals, e.g. Winston Hall. Other buildings can provide Conference Rooms, a Micro-Brewery, restaurants, bars, Food Court and Shops, including souvenir, gift, book, heritage, toy and craft shops and boutiques.
Other features could include a Prisoner Art gallery and other art galleries (Cinema/ Theatre, Office Space, Conference facilities, Furniture making/expansion of Dodds prison workshop strongly desired by the Dodds team) – with huge export and economic potential, use as film sets, photo-shoots, wedding receptions, Halloween events, social functions, Crop Over displays, et cetera, and even use by UWI for their Criminology unit, research and education The extensive grounds can be gardens and well-equipped children’s playgrounds. We have limited fully equipped playgrounds and this could be the answer for quality supervised holiday camps.
Facilities could include trampoline, swings and other attractions, a supervised swimming pool, perhaps an aviary and a small animal reserve or “petting” place for sheep and rabbits for example, for children to see real live animals which town children rarely see! In
Britain such facilities at visitor sites provide for annual membership of families and are a very viable economic operation. Inclusion of a crèche and child supervision facility would ensure its success.
Additionally, in the grounds, there can be replicas of several types of ancient “stocks”, widely used as punishment in Barbados in the 17th and 18th century – for as minor offences as failure to attend church on Sundays!
These are universally fascinating, used to photograph children and families momentarily “in the stocks”, with heads stuck through the holes, with bodies in prison uniforms painted on the front of the structure – hugely popular everywhere!
This would be the first Prison Museum in the region, would add immeasurably to our visitor attractions and “Brand Barbados”, and provide huge educational and economic opportunities. Possibilities for creative entertainment around an ancient, mysterious, fascinating and perhaps ghoulish prison are endless.
Outlay on restoration will be modest as all of the site doesn’t have to be returned to pristine condition … much remains as “romantic ruin”, while some buildings would be repaired and adapted as shops, restaurants, et cetera.
Such a development would greatly embellish the UNESCO World Heritage site Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison and create wide-ranging “ripple effects”.
It is suggested that through BTII tenders be invited for a long lease “pepper corn” arrangement to develop and manage the site as a private investment opportunity. It will be a win-win, as there would be absolutely no cost to government, and the usual investment risk would be undertaken by the private developer.
The benefits will redound to the community, to the wider Barbados and the economy.
Sir Henry Fraser is Professor Emertius, Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology, Immediate Past Dean, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. He is also an architecural historian, heritage consultant, writer, TV presenter, national orator and motivational speaker.
