Old New Amsterdam hospital building to be a heritage site

GOVERNMENT will be collaborating with the private sector in the ancient county of Berbice in “designing a future” for the historic old New Amsterdam Hospital building. Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon made this disclosure at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing last Thursday at Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown.

“Cabinet has decided to collaborate with the private sector in Berbice in designing a future for the historic building which formally housed the New Amsterdam Hospital,” he told reporters.

He stressed that the intention is to preserve the heritage site as an economically viable service provider within Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne).

“The government would be engaging the business community in Region Six in designing a variety of options by which a rehabilitated facility would host services that are needed in the community,” he stated.

The old hospital is located at Charles Place, New Amsterdam. While it has immense architectural value, it was unable to provide the necessities of the main hospital of Region Six.

The US$13.2M state of the art New Amsterdam hospital at Fort Canje in the vicinity of the National Psychiatric Hospital and the Canje Bridge was commissioned in 2005 to meet modern needs of health care delivery.

The old New Amsterdam Public Hospital is an outstanding example of timber architecture, and an architectural masterpieces designed by Cesar Castellani, an architect employed in the Public Works Department of the then British Guiana.

Construction commenced in late 1881 with funds provided to the Public Works Department by the colonial administration, the building was officially opened in 1884.

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