Before It’s all gone: Preserving Jamaica’s architectural heritage – part 2
Kingston has the potential to be a beautiful city. Its geographic setting on the Liguanea Plains, between a large natural harbour, the iconic Long Mountain, the Blue Mountain foothills, the Red Hills massif, and the plains of St Catherine, is stunning and majestic. One of the most undervalued part of the city’s potential is, however, its architectural heritage which is in jeopardy because of neglect and ill-conceived development. It would be unfortunate, if a city with so much history and distinctiveness should become a generic amalgamation of soulless apartment buildings and malls, and the already ubiquitous second-hand car lots.
A friend, Paul Hamilton, recently alerted me to the fact that a historic cast-iron building on the upper section of Orange Street, built around 1900 and once a cigar store and factory, is to be demolished to make way for a parking facility. Cast iron buildings are among the most iconic in the Caribbean and are, because of their openness and resilience against natural disasters, well-adapted to the local environment. The Marché en Fer in Port-au-Prince, the Stabroek Market in Georgetown, Guyana, and the Schoelcher Library in Fort-de-France, Martinique, are great examples. The Orange Street building may not look like much now but it could be restored to its former glory or, for that matter, relocated, as such structures were designed to be movable. Its destruction would be an unnecessary loss.
What I am calling for is development that is informed by inspired, and responsible dialogues with the historical, social, and natural environment. Many other cities, throughout the world, have done so successfully. Jamaica did some of it in the past: the recycling of old harbour warehouses for the Kingston Conference Centre was part of a serious effort to rethink the relationship between architectural preservation and development in the early 1980s. Reviving these ideas would be a win-win situation for all involved, including the developers.
Part of the problem is that the concept of architectural heritage is too narrow in Jamaica. Many think that it is limited to colonial buildings, Georgian or Victorian, and only to the “big architecture” of mansions and public buildings. Yet there is so much more that needs attention and is rapidly disappearing. In Kingston, this includes the vernacular architecture of the working-class neighbourhoods and urban lanes, and the old brick walls that are being dismantled and sold to make barbecues uptown.
Unlike other major Caribbean cities, such as Havana, San Juan and Santo Domingo (and our own, woefully neglected Spanish Town), Kingston does not have a “colonial district”. Part of the city’s distinctiveness, ironically, results from the devastating 1907 earthquake, as modern architecture arrived in Jamaica as part of its reconstruction. It is time to recognize this early modern architecture as an important part of Jamaica’s architectural heritage, as it represented a liveable, attractive vision for Jamaican modernity. There are many Art Deco buildings between Halfway Tree road and the Kingston Waterfront, but few are recognized as being of value and several are in poor or significantly altered condition. With a judicious restoration campaign, Kingston could have a handsome Art Deco District that rivals Miami Beach.
There are early modern buildings in other styles that deserve similar recognition: the courthouse complex and the old Scotiabank building on King Street, for instance, were among the first to be erected after the earthquake and illustrate how the core of the old city was being reinvented. The Wray and Nephew building on Port Royal Street has already lost much of its beautiful wrought ironwork but it could still be restored – I understand that there are plans for it to become a museum. Another important and sorely neglected structure is the downtown Kingston railway terminal, which is literally falling apart, despite its obvious potential.
The task of preserving Jamaica’s architectural heritage may seem intimidating, because of the multitude of issues and perceived costs. With the right kind of vision, sound oversight, appropriate incentives, and public-private sector collaboration, however, it could be mobilized not just for the sake of preserving history but for making Kingston the liveable, sustainable, and distinctive city it ought to be.
Dr Veerle Poupeye is an art historian specialized in art from the Caribbean. She lectures at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica, and works as an independent curator, writer, researcher, and cultural consultant.
