A new civic centre in Bathsheba is to be opened next month to bring economic activity back to one of the island’s most picturesque spots, Member of Parliament for St. Joseph, Dale Marshall, said Friday.
The initial plan was to refurbish the Bathsheba Community Centre, but a decision was made to take the project further to include vending, art and parkland, according to the MP and Attorney General.
“We started this facility earlier this year,” said Marshall. “The old community centre had not been used for more than ten years, so when the Minister of Housing talked about restoring it, I did not think it would pay any real dividends to this community since there are already enough places where we can hold meetings up here. Therefore I asked whether we could have a civic centre.
“Actually, the civic centre pays homage to what was happening here previously because even though the community centre was not in use, craftspeople were using its balcony to sell their products to visitors.
“So this new facility will have three vendors kiosks, as well as a tea shop-type restaurant. This is an amazing location with a view of Tent Bay and the east of Barbados. We have a gallery built for art displays, and when it is finished, it will feature murals by our students and I hope some artists from this side of Barbados will take part in that project.”
The new centre, estimated to cost some $2.3 million, will will have the added attraction of a park on land adjacent to it.
He said: “The work is being done by Hackelton’s Construction, and we are pleased with the quality of the work so far. We made some changes to the initial project as there is a piece of Government land behind it that we are converting to a park, so we thought it would be wise to connect this facility to the park.
“Initially we had expected the National Conservation Commission to do that work, but a private sector individual with a tremendous interest in Bathsheba, who is looking forward to doing great things for Barbados on the whole, has agreed to fund the entire cost of transforming that property, known as Beachmont, into a park.”
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