‘Shop smart’

By Shanna Moore

Shop owners at the Temple Yard Craft Market are championing what they describe as an innovative vision to transform the market into a vibrant “cultural tourist village” as part of the city’s redevelopment efforts – with a plan to live above the shops.

With what they declare as full compliance with the government’s directives, the owners, some of whom have occupied the space for over 20 years, have begun the process of deconstructing their shops, as they eagerly await feedback on the next steps. However, their idea does not stop there.

Carl Taylor, the Public Relations Officer for Forward, a group formed to represent Temple Yard, shared a proposal to diversify the use of the space by creating self-contained apartments atop some of the shops.

“We’ve been discussing ways in which we can be included in the whole development of Bridgetown within the tourist sector,” he told Barbados TODAY. “This place is undergoing redevelopment to which we are fully compliant. We were told to move the shops by the end of March and we’ve started to do that so now we await response from the stakeholders who are to meet today to let us know the next steps. At the last meeting with them, we shared that we would like to contribute in a bigger way to this by adopting one of the designs of an existing shop here, built by a youngster named Abuna Ramsay.”

Ramsay’s structure features an extended gable roof resembling an open attic space.

Taylor continued: “His creativity gave me the idea of the possibility to include self-contained apartments built atop at least five to ten of the shops.”

According to the Temple Yard spokesman, these apartments, exclusively marketed to tourism and managed through the Ministry of Tourism, would not only provide additional revenue streams but also establish shop owners as stakeholders in the redevelopment project.

Shop owner and craftsman Mark Alexander says he is in the process of packing away his merchandise in anticipation of the redevelopment of Temple Yard in Bridgetown.

Emphasising the significance of this proposal, Taylor said: “We believe that by transforming Temple Yard into a cultural tourist village, we can generate additional funds for the government while relieving some of the financial burdens associated with maintenance.”

The shop owners unanimously agreed that this concept aligns with the government’s goal of revitalising Bridgetown while preserving its rich cultural heritage. By creating a destination that celebrates local art, craft, and culture, Temple Yard Craft Market aims to attract tourists and provide an immersive experience that reflects the essence of Barbadian identity, they said.

As discussions continue among stakeholders, the shop owners declared a commitment to a vision of contributing to Bridgetown’s evolution into a dynamic cultural hub. According to them, with their proposal, they are not only reshaping the physical landscape of the city but also paving the way for sustainable tourism growth and economic development.

Chiming in, the president of the Forward group and shop owner Sherryann Knight also applauded what she described as the government’s inclusion of the Rastafarian community in which Temple Yard operates, sharing that she looks forward with great expectation for what is to come. 

shannamoore@barbadostoday.bb