THE European Union (EU) and the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown (M&CC) have signed a contract that would facilitate a study to devise a comprehensive restoration and sustainable conservation management plan for City Hall.The contract, costing 279,196 euros [G$64M], has been awarded to EURONET Consulting GEIE and is expected to be concluded by March/April 2017. The team of consultants will include experts from both Europe and Guyana, and the National Trust of Guyana and City Hall will be actively engaged during the period of consultancy.

The core of the assessment would involve conducting a condition assessment and evaluation of the physical and structural state of City Hall and the City Engineer’s Building; preparing and presenting a comprehensive green restoration plan and a sustainable conservation management plan for City Hall and the City Engineer’s Building; and facilitating training sessions and strengthening capacity within the relevant stakeholder agencies, a statement from the EU Office in Georgetown said on Monday.

EU Ambassador Jernej Videtic highlighted that “Georgetown’s iconic City Hall and the City Engineer’s Building, built in 1889, are unquestionably among the most outstanding architectural, cultural and historically significant buildings in Guyana.”
Ambassador Videtic added: “The EU was delighted to help by funding this study, which will hopefully lead to a process that will see City Hall returned to its former glory.”

The City Hall and City Engineer’s Building are a part of Guyana’s tangible heritage, and are considered important to the nation’s historic fabric. In a bid to preserve and promote the value of its cultural heritage internationally, Guyana in 1977 became a signatory to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage — the first Caribbean State to do so.