by Francis Quamina Farrier

Proverb 20:20 in the Holy Bible states, “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.”

That has, for the better part, been observed in the breach, here in Guyana; especially with our iconic wooden structures. In the city of Georgetown, there are many iconic wooden structures such as the St. George’s Cathedral, State House, the building which is the official residence of the Prime Minister, Red House, Castellani House, the Demerara Mutual Building, and of course, the City Hall, among others. All of the many beautiful and century old wooden landmarks have at one time or another been in need of repairs.
At his very time, both the St. George’s Cathedral and the City Hall are in urgent need of repairs.

Thousands of Guyanese residing in the Diaspora, have already made arrangements to visit the land of their birth, in this 50th Independence Golden Jubilee Year. Coming in from the cold and mainly from locations of asphalt, concrete and stone, they will certainly be refreshed by the sights of the many beautiful wooden buildings which still adorn the Guyana landscape; be they commercial or residential buildings, for even though there have been a notable increase of construction of multi-story concrete structures, not only in Georgetown, but also in New Amsterdam, Linden and Bartica, quite a number of the classical wooden structures remain, to delight those who love the sight of a well-designed and well-maintained wooden building.

Among the many grand wooden buildings which Guyana has lost since independence, are The Park Hotel and the Sacred Heart Catholic church; both on Main Street in Georgetown. However, while there has been the rebuilding of a (concrete) Sacred Heart Church, the plot where the Park Hotel once stood, remains vacant and is now used as a car park. Another beautiful wooden structure which was gutted and where the plot remains empty to this day is the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital wooden section on Parade Street in Georgetown. The western area of the South Block of the Georgetown Public Hospital, which had a section with a tower, was demolished some years ago; while the portion which housed the Observation Wards was gutted. The section at the extreme north-west of that South Block, has already been rebuilt; in concrete. The area where the Observation wards were remains vacant.

Still with losses of health facilities, the grand wooden building which was once the Ministry of Health, located at the eastern end of Brickdam in Georgetown was gutted in what has been officially classified as arson. The fact that that building was previously occupied as Queen’s College, is noteworthy, the reason being, that a large section of the present Queen’s College on Camp Road, was also gutted, by what was also officially classified as arson. Two students from very wealthy families were fingered in that Queen’s College tragedy.

In New Amsterdam, Berbice, one of the most iconic wooden structures – the previous New Amsterdam Hospital – was allowed to become derelict, and bit by bit, vandalized, until not one board remained; the block where it dominated the New Amsterdam skyline, is now over-run with tall grass and bushes. A short distance to the north, was the magnificent grand wooden building at the Fort Canje Mental Institution. That, too, is no longer there and the compound now looks very dowdy and unkempt.

More recently, back in Georgetown, two large wooden buildings were demolished – the old Bedford Methodist School at the corner of Robb and Bourda Streets, and three blocks away, the Christian Mission Annex building at the corner of Camp and Charlotte Streets. Both plots remain vacant at this time.

Change is inevitable and is an international and historic fact; however, one wonders whether some or all of our wooden iconic buildings had to be lost to us foreve.? One wonders what the Guyanese returning from the Diaspora will think of us, for allowing so many of our grand wooden structures to disappear. Those “ancient landmarks” which “our fathers have set”, will never be seen again by us, the visiting Guyanese, and the future Generations of Guyanese as well.