PM outlines vision of a new-look Bridgetown

The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) headquartered in Queen’s Park, the construction of hotels and other developments just outside the Kensington Oval, and the establishment of a gold exchange are all part of an ambitious plan for the capital city, Bridgetown.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley, on Thursday evening, outlined an updated vision for The City, confident that in a “few” years, the declining urban space would emerge as a 24-hour hub at the centre of a diversified economy.

She said Queen’s Park would be the pillar of Bridgetown’s cultural hub, moving from its West Terrace location, which was supposed to be a temporary location when it was opened more than 40 years ago.

“If a country is to give expression to its true commitment to be able to give all of its citizens the opportunity to be exposed to all of the areas of the arts and to have the ability to function and cooperate with each other… our responsibility as a government is to create that space, and we shall do so by not only ensuring that the National Cultural Foundation’s headquarters becomes a central part of the Queen’s Park facility, but that there be opportunities for synergies in the visual arts and the performing and creative arts generally while at the same time creating a space for speaking in the form of an amphitheatre in recognition of the fact that the great pan-Africanist, Marcus Mosiah Garvey was one of those persons who found comfort in the heart of Queen’s Park to be able to spread the message of liberation when he visited Barbados in October of 1937,” declared Mottley.

She was addressing the launch of the University of the West Indies’ Bridgetown campus at the historic Mutual Building at Lower Broad Street.

Mottley said her Government was still committed to the repurposing of old buildings in The City, as she touted the completed redevelopment of areas around the former NIS building and Golden Square.

She said the Treasury Building had already gone out to tender with the intention of housing young Barbadians there and in other buildings. The buildings are also to be used for the development of emerging sectors that combine finance and technology, said Mottley.

“If we are to be true to our heritage as a capital city, we more than most know what it is to take a history of oppression and transform it to a platform of innovation and empowerment. And it is against this backdrop that the story that we tell architecturally in Bridgetown must also reflect the journey that we want economically for our country,” said Mottley.

The PM said former Chair and CEO of Coca-Cola, Neville Isdell who purchased properties near the Pierhead in Bridgetown, is eager to redevelop the Southern end of The City, much like he did with the Irish capital, Dublin.

Mottley announced plans to welcome a new hotel opposite the Kensington Oval, redevelop the nearby central purchasing building, and use the BIDC building for “hotel and tourism” purposes.

She also revealed that her government was in discussions with Guyanese officials about the establishment of a gold exchange.

“We are conscious that over two million people visit our country every year and therefore we are in a better position to provide a market for gold and to that extent, Bridgetown will also house that facility for a gold exchange ensuring that there is greater economic activity brought to our capital city,” Mottley disclosed.

“Our economy cannot continue to be based on tourism alone, as we know, and if we had any doubts about it, the example of 2020 with the decline of tourism in travel dependent countries in every respect globally by at least double-digit figures enforces in us the need for us to benefit financially and economically from new industry.

“This city of Bridgetown is special. It is special to all of us and I hope and pray that the continued work of this Government will not only be looking at the buildings, but will also be looking at the reorganisation of the traffic flow of this town, that we will have, within a few years, a city that will essentially have its values kept intact but will have a very different look and a very different feel. And, rather than walking out and wondering who else is out there on the road, that it will be abuzz with activity 24/7 because that is the commitment we have made – to make this city the city of choice in the Americas,” the PM concluded. (KS)