The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) plans to use its annual government subvention to restore City Hall, but Mayor Hamilton Green says he is still awaiting word from experts he consulted before works can begin.
In September last year, Green had told this newspaper that the plan was to raise $400 million to restore the historic City Hall to its pre-Independence glory by reaching out to the Diaspora. However, that idea was not well received by Director of Culture, Professor James Rose.
Rose had said that that kind of civic-mindedness no longer exists and it would have been best if the council approached funding agencies. “Our best bet would be to get a restoration plan, work out costing and a realistic schedule and go to the funding agencies. We are prepared to side with them but they’ve got to get the documentation right,” Rose said then.
Yesterday, Green told this newspaper that works will not begin until the experts arrive. Green noted that funding is needed to bring in the experts and that the subvention would go towards the start of the restoration works. Green believes that to restore the entire complex, an expert with the architectural experience used to construct the facility is needed.
The Mayor could not say exactly when works will begin but he did say that he hoped government would contribute to the restoration. The restoration of City Hall is a national matter and not one for the City Council alone, Green said.
In 1977, Guyana acceded to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage that was adopted by UNESCO in 1972, a treaty which addresses the conservation and protection of natural and cultural heritage sites of the world. From the mid-1990s Guyana made three nominations for World Heritage Site status, namely the Kaieteur National Park, Shell Beach, and Historic Georgetown, which includes City Hall.
