- Norman Grindley/Staff Photographer
Lisa Grant (left), legal officer of Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT), Duke Street, downtown Kingston, answers questions at a town meeting yesterday. Looking on is deputy chairman of the JNHT board of trustees, Colin Hitchman.
Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
PROPERTY OWNERS will be forced to adhere to stricter building guidelines after downtown Kingston is designated a protected national heritage site in less than one month's time.
According to Lisa Grant, legal officer of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT), property owners who want to make changes to the exterior of their buildings will have to adhere to a more Georgian style look, after the area is declared a National Heritage site.
Ms. Grant explained that the public has 25 days to send their objections about the designation. The areas proposed for designation are from the Kingston Harbour shoreline in the southern end of the City, north to North Street, east of Hanover Street, and west to West Street.
ALTERATIONS
"Development or alterations to any part of the area will require the approval of the JNHT to ensure that the work is in keeping with the integrity of the area," Ms. Grant said at community forum with business operators and residents yesterday at the JNHT's downtown headquarters.
"The Trust has no intention of freezing Kingston in a time warp and watching all the buildings dissolve into a dust. We are all about the adoptive reuse of our buildings."
However, refusal to comply with the JNHT guidelines could see property owners being fined up to $40,000 or be liable to stand the cost of restoring the site in accordance with the JNHT.
In convincing the residents and business persons about the benefits of the city being declared a historic district, Ms. Grant said: "The major gain we have is preserving what is here for the future and to preserve our heritage in a tangible manner that will ensure that it is not relegated just to books and pictures from here on out."
"We don't want the day to come when persons are not even able to see what was built with the hands of our predecessors or able to step into a building and see the architecture which was crafted just by hand without machine," said the legal officer in an interview with The Gleaner.
Citing some other benefits that can be gained from the designation, Ms. Grant said that compensation will be made to property owners for financial loss, if they already had plans in place to develop their properties. A Heritage Preservation Fund will also be put in next year to assist property owners in bearing financial costs to preserve their buildings.
