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Walcott House
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Grass Street Development Association Gowdin Richardson has expressed disappointment in the abrupt closure of the Walcott House and has said that he is worried that various employment opportunities will be lost if the closure is permanent.
In a press release, the Saint Lucia National Trust announced that it would be closing the facility indefinitely, effective May 31, 2017, as it was unable to fund its operations due to government budget cuts.
The Walcott House is the first of a three-phase Walcott Place & Grass Street Urban Enhancement Project located on 17 Chaussée Road. It is the reconstruction of the childhood home of artistic icons Sir Derek and Roderick Walcott. It was made possible through grant funding from the Taiwanese Government in the amount of US$2.8 million or EC$7.53 million.
The second phase was due to have begun last year under these funds and would have involved the construction of an adjoining three-level structure with a museum, branded bistro, gift shop, entertainment courtyard, library, studio and support offices.
Phase three of the project would have brought about the creation of an EC$16 million arts centre with a 130-seat black-box theatre, music, arts studios and training space, the press release said.
Richardson said that many jobs would have come from these initiatives.
“They promised to give us three phases. Phase two has to do with job creation components, including things like cafes, coffee shops, museums, studios, after-school programmes, support officer, entertainment, courtyard…” he said.
He further declared that because of the initiative, at least five businesses were acquired by government and were down to have been relocated to huts to continue business elsewhere, but with the closure, he is not sure this will occur.
“They have nowhere to go,” he lamented.
“All of a sudden it’s just closed down. It’s not nice. It’s not a good thing. We only had a short meeting …yesterday Tuesday for today [we were told] that the Walcott base would be closing… The notice was short, the people never informed us before that,” he said.
Among the businesses acquired for the setup of the Walcott development project was a bakery which now is abandoned, vandalised and occupied by vagrants.
The PRO raised concern that such a fate may await the Walcott House if it remains closed for too long.
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