Heritage at Risk – Save Melrose House

Save Melrose House

Melrose House - Source: The Willie Redhead Foundation



In August of 2010, many Grenadians became aware of the potential to lose yet another of Grenada’s significant historic heritage sites. In this case, the threat was not from a natural disaster like hurricane Ivan, but from the wrecking ball. Threatened is Melrose House of Gouyave, in St. Johns Parish.



Melrose House, believed to be built in the early to mid-19^th century, is threatened by its new owners who would like it demolished in order to make way for construction of a new hardware store on the site where it currently stands.



The building, believed to be first owned by the Commissiong family, is one of few of its type remaining in Gouyave today.



Melrose House, is a good example of Caribbean Architecture from the mid-19^th century.



It encompassed the combination of French and English elements that defines architecture that is uniquely Caribbean.



One looking to identify the different architectural styles utilized in the design of Melrose House can find French in the steep pitch roof, English in the double-hung windows, and in it raised basement.



The placement of buildings on piers, which help improve ventilation and protects against floods, and the implementation of deep porches that provide shade and shelter for inhabitants and buildings alike, are ideas European builders learned from the building methods.



This point is important, because to a large degree, many in Caribbean populations reject the historic architecture found throughout the Caribbean, on the grounds that they are a vestige of colonial times and lack connection to them. Grenadians are likely no different.



Not only is a landmark like Melrose House representative of the cultural amalgam that defines Grenadian society, but it is part of the historical continuum that connects Grenada’s past and present.



The cavernous underside of Melrose House, where large rum vats were stored, and the existence of Grenada’s longest-ever-built wooden jetty nearby, suggests a connection to Grenada’s industrial heritage past, in which large shipments of rum were exported to Europe.



Between 1930 and 1940, Melrose House transitioned from private to public ownership , and for a period was the residence of successive Attorneys General of the Windward Islands.



Notable among those that resided at Melrose house was Justice Keith Alleyne, the renowned Queens Council, Attorney General of the Windward Islands, and acting Judge of the Windward and Leeward Islands High Court. Sir Louis Cools-Lartigue, who was Chief Secretary of Windward Islands and serve as interim President of Dominica, also resided at Melrose House.



Because Melrose House served as the residence of the Attorneys General of The Windward Islands, the history of the OECS, which succeeded the West Indies Associated States, is replete with the names of persons who at some point stayed there.  The demolition of Melrose House would represent the ripping out of a page in Grenada’s history book.



Declaring Melrose House a national heritage landmark and developing it as a small museum is one way to preserve and protect it from destruction.  This museum can follow the numerous examples of small museums worldwide, whose mission is the preservation of heritage and cultural properties of significance, in order to exhibit they role in the development of societies. Some notable examples of this regionally and globally are: Arlington House, Speightstown, Barbados; Greenwood Great House, Montego Bay, Jamaica; Goethe House in Frankfurt, Germany, and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Virginia, US.







Creating The Melrose House Museum would have a direct impact on the town of Gouyave. Combined with a well define historic district, Gouyave would benefit in a variety of ways – most notably through economic activity from increased daily tourist visits and raising the profile of the town as a destination in Grenada.



Melrose House can be the foundation for a national museum system, whose mandate would be the management and preservation of significant heritage buildings and sites throughout all of Grenada.



An INTERCOM 2006 Conference Paper, titled Measuring the Impact of Museums on their Communities: The role of the 21st century museum notes that:



… the value of local museums were the links back to community; opportunities for people to visit, including attending events; the work opportunities (both paid & unpaid) that were available; the wealth that the museum creates in the local community leading to generate money to go back to the community. Broader outcomes were also identified, such as developing an appreciation of place and culture, community pride, museums preserving heritage, and opportunities for learning across all age levels.



Structures like Melrose House (and there are many throughout Grenada) provide an invaluable service, bridging the Grenada of now to that of yesteryear. Through they existence, Grenadians and visitors alike are provided tangible connections to the country’s rich history and heritage.



If the living Grenadian history that Melrose House embodies is allowed to die; if the profits of one business man trumps the interest of an entire nation and it generations to follow, then Grenada must answer some fundamental questions about what it is as a society.  Is Grenada a place that can strike a balance between short term economic gain and long term cultural preservation?  Is Grenada a country with leadership that can devise innovative approaches that enables it to leverage its historic character for both cultural and economic purposes?  And lastly, but probably most important: Are Grenadians willing to fight for the history that so much defines them?



What happens to Melrose House will provide an answer that will reverberate for generations to come.



The Grenada Action Forum will like to acknowledge the contributions of Mr. Ray Smith towards this article and is lifelong dedication to the preservation of Grenada’s heritage and historic places and sites.

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Heritage at Risk – Heritage Tourism Loosing

From “Poems of Life” by Dr. Leonard Merrydale Comissiong (c.1940).



The poem above was written more than seven decades ago, and according to The Sentinel’s view is not very different from our GRENADA TODAY.







After listening to Mr. Simon Stiell – the recently appointed Director of the Board of Tourism, on the George Grant Sunday programme of 20^th March 2011, one gets the feeling of déjà vu, we have heard it all before; but in fairness to Mr. Stiell we should give him the benefit of the doubt in his proposed strategic and pragmatic programme which the Board of Tourism is planning to undertake in the near future in order to remain competitive in the global arena.



 



 



Before going further, the Sentinel would like to congratulate the “Sunday with George Grant” programme in bringing important current national issues to the fore in an effect to educate and inform the Grenadian public. In this particular Sunday programme the public was very vocal in reminding Mr. Stiell of the “Jewel in the Crown”, both of which have been given lip service in the past.



The Crown is of course the tropical paradise of Grenada, and the jewel is its capital city of St. George. As the public by now is generally aware, the Willie Redhead Foundation from its establishment in 1994 has been an active participant in the rescue mission to save our capital city and our natural and cultural heritage in general.







Fort George



“The city of St. George is recognized regionally, and perhaps internationally … The Organisation of American States as early as 1988 designated the city as “a monument of the wider Caribbean”.



Our original mantra in 1994 was “the Willie Redhead Foundation for the preservation and urban renewal of St. George’s”, which was later changed to “the Willie Redhead Foundation for the preservation and renewal of the National Heritage of Grenada”. Over the past sixteen years we have endeavoured to fulfill this mandate in several ways, the most important of which is / was to engage both the past and current administrations of the need to save the “jewel”, but with little or no positive response.



The city of St. George is recognized regionally, and perhaps internationally, as the Georgian Society of the United Kingdom over half a century ago gave it special mention as a unique Georgian town in the Caribbean. After the passing of Hurricane Ivan, in their assessment of the damaged caused, both the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank recommended to the then Government that the buildings in the city of St. George should be







Anglican Church - post Ivan



urgently repaired and or restored as the case may be as the historic city (the jewel) is of tremendous value in the economic recovery of Grenada and as a tourism product in particular. The Organisation of American States as early as 1988 designated the city as “a monument of the wider Caribbean”.



But when we examine what has taken place in the town since 1988 we see a city of neglect and perhaps gross abandonment as the Authority responsible for the protection of our built heritage appear not to have an understanding of the value of heritage in nation building and national identity and has become in fact, a part of the problem, when we observe the Regulatory Authority contravening its own regulations when granting building approvals especially in the case of existing heritage buildings.



… the historic city (the jewel) is of tremendous value in the economic recovery of Grenada and as a tourism product in particular.







Unchecked erosion of Tibeau cemetery



In order to comprehend its wanton neglect lets take a look at Fort George with its enormous tourism potential, which has been alluded to by The Willie Redhead Foundation (tWRF) on several occasions in the past, and recently by a product of ST. John, now a United Kingdom Professor in the field of Education namely – Prof. Gus John in his memo to Government Ministers, the Market Square is now a shanty town, together with the buildings around the square, the depressing state of York House and the Governor General’s residence, Edinburgh House at the top of Young Street, the old St. James Hotel-not so long ago the home of the CID, the burnt-out L.A. Purcell store on Halifax Street, Rev. Byer’s family house on Lucas Street, the Anglican and Presbyterian churches also the decaying Forde “Sedan Chair” building and the unsightly and incomplete Lawyer’s office all on Church Street, Bachelor’s Lodge and the old Freida Martin house on Simmons Alley, the Drill Yard complex including the old Ministries of Works, Education and the Museum, not forgetting those on the Carenage and other parts of the town.



The foregoing represents some of the major challenges; coming a close second are the number of small business houses in the town that require a face lift, which need not be an expensive exercise if professional planning and management are employed in its execution, but this require the coordinated will of the business community and meaningful government partnership and perhaps leadership.



The above scenario gives a bird’s eye view of the state of Heritage Preservation in the city of St. George, and begs the question whether heritage preservation / restoration is recognized by the powers that be as a developmental component in its National Development Programme.







Abandon Building on the Carenage



This is the challenge which the Director of Tourism will have to confront and address in a meaningful way if the “jewel” is to be saved from the unrelenting pressures from both man and the forces of nature.



Although the challenges are daunting, it can still be accomplished with dedication and singularity of purpose. In this regard the Willie Redhead Foundation stands ready to assist in accomplishing the desired result, in order that our HERITAGE TOURISM product may become the envy of our Caribbean neighbours. There must be however a serious commitment at capitalizing on the enormous economic potential of this sector which could become a major contributor to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a sign of our blossoming cultural maturity as seen in Curacao, Aruba, Bermuda, St. Kitts and Barbados.

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Heritage at Risk - No Way To Treat A National Monument

No Way To Treat A National Monument

House House pre Hurricane Ivan



It has been almost seven years since Hurricane Ivan devastated Grenada and astonishingly many of our country’s important historic monuments remain in disrepair.



In many cases, the damage inflicted by Ivan and Emily (the following year) on these important sites have been compounded by neglect on the part of the government and private owners.



Significant among the many buildings threatened are York House and Government House. Unfortunately, the cost of restoration for these important historic Grenadian heritage sites have increased since 2004 largely because simple steps, such as decking open roofs, were not taken.



York House suffered roof damages from Ivan and Emily but the interior of the building was left to incur further damage from weather elements. Had the interior of the building been immediately protected, the amount of work needed to return the building to full functionality would have been contained primarily to restoration of the roofing system.



As with the Anglican Church, the hurricane dislodged the rafters, but many of the rafters were not damaged. Those that were damaged were repairable for reuse.







York House Today



This point is important because re-use of as much of the previous material obviously would mean a cost savings for the rebuilding process.



It is easy to see from the outside (pictured above) that it appears the hurricanes had only a limited affected on the standing walls of York house. If this is indeed so and the standing walls were structurally sound, then steps should have been taken to rebuild the rafters soon after the hurricane. And of course, strengthening their ability to withstand similar hurricane conditions should have occurred. If this had happened, on-going damage to York House would have been mitigated and arrested by the installation temporary roofing.



In the pantheon of important heritage sites in Grenada, York House is among the most significant, if not the most significant. So it is a national shame that such a symbolic structure has been allowed to languish in disrepair for so long.



The placement of high importance in the preservation of culture and heritage by Grenadians and the Grenadian government must be questioned, when one witnesses the neglect of monuments like York House and similar significant heritage sites – neglect that, in some instances, preceded hurricane Ivan.



After World War II, Germany understood that it could not allow the war to define the country and its culture. As a result, Germany went about rebuilding towns like Rottenberg ob Der Tauber and town centers like Roemer Platz in Frankfurt, to exacting detail of what they were before destruction by the war, to ensure that their rich history was not lost and would be carried forward to succeeding generations.



Consequently, the investment the Germans made to restore damaged towns and monuments have returned dividends to Germany’s economy. Today, these restored monuments are key to, and feature prominently in, the country’s tourism strategy.



By allowing a significant place like York House to incur damages beyond that caused by Hurricane Ivan, Grenada runs the risk of the storm defining its history and heritage. Six and a half years after Ivan, the slow pace of restoration to preeminent structures like York House hurts Grenada’s ability to leverage one of it key assets in distinguishing itself from all Caribbean islands competing for tourists. This dilution in the strength of the Grenadian tourism product invariably affects the country’s economy, given its considerable size in the Gross Domestic Product.



Restoration of iconic structures like York House by Grenada’s government is an investment in Grenada. In the short term it may appear that there is mutual exclusivity between fixing roads or building housing and repairing historic structures. But in the long term, all are of equal importance to the sustainable of Grenada.



The overall positive impact of the repair and restoration of these treasured national symbols should not be underestimated – not only for the significant sustainable employment opportunities and economic activity that will be generated but also for its therapeutic effect on national psyche and pride (as has been noted with the repairs and restoration of the two historic churches so far in St. George’s – Methodist and Roman Catholic Church – and the St. John’s Anglican Church in Gouyave.



The repair and restoration of York House, and other heritage monuments , must be moved to a higher level of priority in Grenada. This is not a luxury. It is an imperative.

 

WE NEED ACTION - Help Restore Grenada's Major Landmarks

The Willie Redhead Foundation (tWRF) begun a project back in 2008 to raise funds to assist with the restoration of four of Grenada's historic churches in St. George’s which were severely damaged by hurricanes Ivan in September 2004 and Emily the following July.  The Foundation is hopeful that it will continue to receive public support for this initiative even in these difficult economic times.



Of the four churches, we are happy to record the successful restoration of two – namely the Methodist on Green Street which was given “Patrimonial recognition” by the award of a tWRF plaque in November 2010.







Interior - Roman Catholic Cathedral



The other is the recent completion of the Roman Catholic Cathedral on Church Street. The two remaining churches that have not yet begun work are the Anglican and the Presbyterian.



The restoration focus has therefore been mainly in the town of St. George but a Project that has recently caught the eye of the Sentinel, is that of another church in Gouyave which was also damaged by hurricane Ivan, namely “the church of St. John the Divine”, generally known as the St. John’s Anglican Church.



A recent visit to the church was both revealing and rewarding. Revealing, in that the mover of the restoration initiative – Rev Junior Ballantyne, appear to understand the relevance and importance of recording/ preserving the history of our built or cultural heritage for posterity.  There was no tinkering with the original design of the building, no trying to improve or out do the original concept through “modernizing” the traditional seating arrangement.  With pains-taking diligence, [they have] executed a heritage restoration project that is the admiration of all who behold it, [and is] in keeping with the teachings of Christ which remain unchanged and unpolluted for over two millennia.



“The church of St. John the Divine” or the Gouyave Anglican Church was built in 1866 which makes it 165 years old. The records however shows that there was a previous church on the site in the “latter part of the eighteenth century, as during the Fedon rebellion of 1795, The Rev. Francis Mc Mahon then Rector of the parish was one of the three who had been captured and not killed”



The restored Anglican Church to the south and the Rectory and Pastoral Centre to the north of the street which bisect the complex, together comprise an impressive urban environment and enhances that part of the town of Gouyave which in the Sentinel’s view could be regarded as aesthetically and ecologically friendly in pursuance of a green environment.



While the restored structure of the church which is easily recognizable from the outside, the inside of the Church is just as impressive, which shows a respect for historicity, while taking advantage of modern technology as exemplified in the sensitive restoration of the wooden roof trusses; the reconstruction of the mezzanine floor for the choir, the delicate restoration of the large stained glass window behind the main altar, the detailed ornate reproduction of the Pulpit and the Lectern, the polished purple-heart pews, the restored marble wall plaques- all combine in producing an atmosphere or ambiance of serenity and spiritual uplift so necessary in a turbulent world, full of stress, violence and confrontation.



The curtilage (surroundings) of the church must not go unmentioned, where the graves of outstanding citizens of the parish are cleaned and repaired, in some cases with the restoration of the inscription of their headstones, providing historic information of great Anglicans, nay Grenadian personalities of the past, and not to be outdone, the apex of the steeple now has a light which provides a beacon to guide fishermen at sea.



The Willie Redhead Foundation through its organ- “the Sentinel”, takes this opportunity to express our delight in the accomplishment of this outstanding heritage project and to say CONGRATULATIONS ARE INDEED IN ORDER to Rev. Ballantyne and the Anglican community of Gouyave and St. John’s as a whole. May the supreme Architect continue to guide you all to greater heights to come.

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