Restoration Fund for City Hall to aid urgent rehabilitation

Apr 20, 2010 News

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A quick glance at City Hall reveals that the “timber exuberance” is in urgent need of rehabilitation, an undertaking that may require significant amounts of assistance if the historic showpiece is to remain a monumental site.
This notion was emphasised yesterday by Councillor, Patricia Chase-Green, when she offered brief remarks at the opening of an exhibition at City Hall to mark World Heritage Day.
World Heritage Day is observed globally on April 18. However, the municipality decided to mark the day yesterday with the exhibition which saw the attendance of several students from schools around the city.
According to Chase-Green, she is very concerned about the physical state of the beautiful building but noted that “nowadays it is very difficult to find skilled workmen with the ability to replicate the intricate design and to do the artistry needed to preserve this building.”
She also alluded to the astronomical cost that such a project will attract; a sum that the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown can ill-afford to fund. “The M&CC does not have the finances to restore this building. This lack of resources challenge has long held assumption about our responsibility and general decision making process at City Hall…,” she added.
She asserted that City Hall and other heritage sites in the city are the responsibility of all citizens, thus a collective approach must be engaged to protect and preserve them.
She highlighted that under the Municipal and District Council Act, the Council has the scope to appoint special committees and persons with appropriate talents to assist in such matters.
And given the municipality’s ongoing financial dilemma and the belief that all stakeholders will be willing to help, Ms Chase-Green said that “we are contemplating and were promised sums from different agencies to establish a City Hall restoration fund.”
This fund, she said, will be managed by a group of persons including the City Mayor and other stakeholders, the private sector and citizens.
According to Mayor Green, he has already drafted a letter in this regard and is optimistic that the powers be supportive in realising this venture.
“We cannot afford to have City Hall disintegrate any further.  I have discussed this with Dr James Rose and I understand that he has already made contact with a competent authority to help us in the restoration process.” Mayor Green underscored that the building cannot be restored by just any engineer as there are a lot of technical aspects that require engineers that are specially trained and qualified to restore heritage sites.
“We must take tab from our neighbours…I passed through Trinidad recently; they are doing a magnificent job, of course they have the resources, in restoring Queen’s Royal College, their City Hall, Parliament and they just built a magnificent cultural centre that is the best in this part of the World. Cuba is spending fantastic sums to restore their heritage sites.”
The restoration, according to Ms Chase-Green, is especially important even as the municipality prepares to celebrate its 121st anniversary this year. Georgetown will this year celebrate 198 years as a city, Chase-Green revealed as she emphasised the need for citizens to embrace a collective responsibility to restore the city to its former glory.
“We are all collectively tasked with the responsibility of restoring the city to the Garden City and not as it is popularly known now as the Garbage City. Every school child, every adult is entitled to the responsibility of keeping their environment clean. You are entitled to the responsibility of helping to restore your heritage.”
Yesterday’s observance was held under the theme ‘Reflections of City Hall’ and according to Public Relations Officer, Royston King, the special day was intended to give people an opportunity to reflect on the city’s cultural heritage and evince a collection effort to protect and preserve it.
The city of Georgetown, King said, has a very rich cultural heritage. According to him, the evolution and lay out of the city itself is reflective of this fact. For this reason, he said that the Council decided to use the event as a platform to host the special public awareness event about the city’s cultural heritage.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), World Heritage is the shared wealth of humankind, thus protecting and preserving this valuable asset demands the collective efforts of the international community. This special day (April 18) offers an opportunity to raise the public’s awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage and the efforts that are required to protect and conserve it, as well as draw attention to its vulnerability, UNESCO has highlighted.
On  April 18, 1982, on the occasion of a symposium organised by International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in Tunisia, the holding of the “International Day for Monuments and Sites” to be celebrated simultaneously throughout the world was suggested. This project was approved by the Executive Committee which provided practical suggestions to the National Committees on how to organise this day.
The idea was also approved by the UNESCO General Conference which passed a resolution at its 22nd session in November 1983, recommending that Member States examine the possibility of declaring April 18 each year “International Monuments and Sites Day”.
This has ever since been traditionally called the World Heritage Day.
Also gracing yesterday’s forum was Chairman of Guyana’s Heritage Society and Chairman of National Trust, Dr James Roses, who fondly reflected on the various heritage sites in Guyana that must be protected in order to preserve Guyana’s history. Acting Town Clerk, Mrs Yonette Pluck-Cort, was tasked with kicking the activity in motion.

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