Work being carried out on the Kings House gate.
THE IRON gate at the Hope Road entrance to Kings House, the Governor-General's official residence, which was taken down last year, is being repaired at the works yard of West Indies Home Contractors Limited (WIHCON) in Portmore, St. Catherine.
The gate was removed about the same time WIHCON started reconstruction work on Hope Road in the vicinity of Kings House. The road work is slated for completion in September, by which time the gate should be remounted.
Paul Hoo, senior engineer at WIHCON, told The Gleaner the gate was removed to facilitate road work in the area. He said the gate, which was bent out of shape after being hit by a car sometime ago, was being given a well-needed facelift. "It is being sandblasted, is receiving a fresh coat of paint and missing finels are being replaced," he said.
Mr. Hoo said it will be re-installed "a little way back from the original location". Currently, architects are working on a plan to create a semi-circular driveway for the Hope Road entrance to the Governor-General's residence. The exit will be on East Kings House Road.
But, although the work to put the gate back on its hinges will commence next month, it will take roughly two months to complete the job which will include the installation of lighting to the gate post, and an additional fence to "tie back" into the existing chain link fence that runs along East Kings House Road, Mr. Hoo explained. He added that "it's a little more work than just putting back the gate in its original location".
The work is being done at no extra cost to taxpayers as it formed part of the road contract, Mr. Hoo pointed out.
Rudolph Brown Photo
