THE Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) needs a whopping $2B in order to complete repair works on all of its municipal buildings, Town Clerk Royston King says. Recognising the need for the Council to ensure that the buildings are all “fit and safe”, King told this publication that M&CC is committed to restoring these buildings as far as practicable.
“We believe that all our municipal buildings, including City Hall, Kitty Market, Stabroek Market, etc.; such repair works are not beyond the competence of our City Engineer’s Department.”
Works on the restoration of City Hall’s building have already commenced and more is planned before the celebration of the country’s 50th Independence Anniversary.
Some $300M is needed to do initial repair works on City Hall’s building, King informed. “We are talking about the roof, windows, the structural soundness and so forth.”
A ‘Restoration Fund’ will have to be launched so that corporate citizens and individuals can make donations to the project.
Meanwhile, a complex to house staff of the M&CC will have to be built sometime this year to effectively facilitate rehabilitation of City Hall’s building. The intention is to have the structure, built in 1889, returned to its former glory.
City Hall boasts of a unique architectural design and is often described as “the most picturesque structure”, “the most handsome building in Georgetown”, and “one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the Caribbean.”
Mayor Hamilton Green had expressed optimism that the task will be completed this year. Just recently, he told this newspaper that the EU and the Ministry of Finance had already signaled their readiness to assist with the restoration project.
“It is a very complex building. There is a lot of iron work to be done and a lot of work to be done on the roof as well. It’s a lot of work and so it will cost a lot, but I wouldn’t want to guess a figure,” he said.
It is unclear if the skills to get the job done are available locally.
In 1995, the Government of Guyana had proposed City Hall as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The building was designed by architect Reverend Ignatius Scholes in 1887 and was completed in June 1889.
At 14:00hrs on December 23, 1887, Governor Henry Turner Irving laid the foundation stone for City Hall at the north-east corner of the main building, along with a glass jar containing original documents relating to the building.
City Hall was officially opened at 15:00hrs on July 1, 1889 by Governor-Viscount Gormanston. The Archbishop of British Guiana, William Piercy Austin, then blessed the structure.
The building has deteriorated significantly over the years and is in need of urgent repairs.