WESTERN BUREAU:
RESIDENTS OF St. James might be able to enjoy some of this year's Independence activities at the new Montego Bay Civic Centre, if the facility is completed by its June deadline. The St. James Parish Council is hoping that the deadline will be met, so that the new facility can host at least some of the events planned for the Independence celebrations. At its monthly meeting last week, a written report from the Superintendent of Roads and Works Tubal Brown said work on the building was over 60 per cent complete.
"There is no change in the completion date of June 2001 ... it will be realised," Mr. Brown wrote.
The civic centre is a project of the Urban Development Corpor-ation (UDC), and will be handed over to the Council on completion. A committee, headed by Councillor Charmaine Richards, has already been formed to manage the operations at the new facility. The official opening is being planned to coincide with City Status week in October. Construction of the civic centre began in January 1999, and was expected to be completed within 16 months, at a cost of J$125 million. "The project is expected to exceed the original budget..., due to extension of time, increased costs for labour and material, and the movement in the Jamaican dollar," said the UDC in a statement last October.
The civic centre is being developed on the site of the old burnt out courthouse in Sam Sharpe Square, with funding under the San Jose Accord. The developers aim to retain about 75 per cent of the existing structure.
The work will include the restoration of the courthouse to its original Georgian appearance, as well as provisions to house the Montego Bay Town Hall, and exhibition spaces for art, culture and museum displays.
