Latest update November 28th, 2024 3:00 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

BEAUTIFUL, BUT NO LONGER IMPOSING

Aug 25, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

 

 
A building to behold need not be imposing. Way up on the Corentyne there is a small delightful Baptist Church that shows that small can be beautiful.
The grand churches of Georgetown are of course falling apart and being pulled down. A few days ago, the old St Barnabas Church was demolished. A few weeks earlier it was sold by the Anglican Church to a private concern who will no doubt be erecting a huge structure on the site.
The St. Barnabas Church had to come down because it was simply being neglected. For years, it was an eyesore, had begun to tilt, and was in a state of such disrepair that vagrants used it as public toilet. With dwindling congregation and the state of ruin to which it had descended, the Anglican Church had little choice but to place it on the auction block.
Not far away is the St. George’s Cathedral which some insane persons or persons actually attempted to torch during the disturbances that followed the 1997 elections. The St, George‘s Cathedral is at no risk of being torn down, but it is not in the best of shape also and could do with some financial help from all those who are concerned about the fate of Guyana’s historic buildings.
The St. George’s Cathedral is an example of a beautiful building that was imposing. For decades it stood out in the heart of the capital since it towered above all other buildings.
Size is always relative, and while St George’s Cathedral would be like a matchbox against some of the buildings in Manhattan, for example, in Georgetown, it was the giant of a small city of a small country.
So imposing was the Cathedral that for years Guyanese deluded themselves into believing that it was actually the tallest wooden building in the world. For years, we were misadjusting our children by filling their brains with the false idea that somehow Guyana was in the record books when it came to the St. George’s Cathedral It may have been the tallest wooden church in the world, but it is not the tallest wooden building on the planet.
We mislead ourselves about a great many things in Guyana. At one time, we even boasted about having the longest floating bridge in the world. When it was pointed out that there were much longer floating structures in other parts of the world, we took comfort in saying that it was the longest floating “socialist” bridge in the world.
Norway is constructing a huge wooden building that is going to make the St. George’s Cathedral look like a picket fence. But it is not so much the competition from outside of Guyana that is the main course of worry for those heritage lovers of the Cathedral.
The main source of worry is that the Cathedral is about to be dwarfed in size by a neighbouring building. Just across the road from the Cathedral, a huge bank is being built. That is a sign of the continuing progress in Guyana. But it will reduce the imposing presence of the Cathedral, because if you go to the top floor of that building under construction, you could well be at the same level as the roof of the cathedral.
A building is only imposing relative to those around it. The Cathedral had long been imposing because most of the nearby structures were smaller in size. It therefore stood out from the crowd.
It will no longer stand out. This beautiful wooden building is about to be boxed into a number of huge concrete structures which are taking shape around the city.
A few years ago, a mural of what Georgetown will look like in the future was unveiled at GuyExpo. It showed a modern city with high-rise buildings. That plan is taking shape not only in Georgetown, but throughout Guyana.
And with that all the old buildings of Georgetown, including structures like the Stabroek Market, on which billions were spent over the years in maintaining, are simply going to be hardly noticeable. That unfortunately is the price that is often paid for modernity.

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 20th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

 

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Bakewell supports Kashif and Shanghai Futsal tourney

Bakewell supports Kashif and Shanghai Futsal tourney

Nov 28, 2024

Kaieteur Sports- Long time sponsor, Bakewell with over 20 years backing the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation, has readily come to the fore to support their new yearend ‘One Guyana’ branded Futsal...
Read More
Captains Face Off ahead of Petra-Republic Bank U18 Football League Final

Captains Face Off ahead of Petra-Republic Bank...

Nov 28, 2024

CWI announces women’s squad for multi-format series in India

CWI announces women’s squad for...

Nov 28, 2024

The Mangra Family: Building a Dynasty of Strength and Dedication

The Mangra Family: Building a Dynasty of Strength...

Nov 28, 2024

Windies break home Test drought with 201-run win over Bangladesh

Windies break home Test drought with 201-run win...

Nov 27, 2024

President Ali sees sports as ‘centrepiece’ of Guyana’s transformation

President Ali sees sports as ‘centrepiece’ of...

Nov 27, 2024

Features/Columnists

  • The illusion of compliance

    …Peeping Tom  Kaieteur News- A company can meet the letter of the law. It can tick every box, hit every target. Yet,... more

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]