THE JAMAICA NATIONAL Heritage Trust on Wednesday officially opened the annex at its Headquarters House at 79 Duke Street, Downtown, Kingston. The annex has been newly refurbished and will be used as the new home of the trust's archaeology division, which has been relocated from the Naval Hospital at Port Royal.
The history of the annex extends to 1755, when it was used as the servants' quarters at the home of Mr. Joseph Hibbert. The building was later used as Jamaica's legislative chamber; a role it played for close to a century. It is said that National Hero George William Gordon was imprisoned at the annex, just prior to his hanging.
The trust began its search for a new home for the archaeology division eight years ago when it was decided that the Port Royal base had become unsafe.
After viewing over 20 locations, most of which were turned down because of financial constraints, the team from the archaeology division chose the annex for their new home.
Speaking at yesterday's opening ceremony, Roderick Ebanks, director of archaeology, said not only had the old hospital become unsafe, but travelling to and from Port Royal posed its own challenges.
"We all love Port Royal but travelling there was very taxing. We are happy to be here at Headquarters House because it will allow the trust to make use of the tremendous human resources in the archaeology division, and so create one team working together for the good of the nation," he said.
