The Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is hoping to launch a fund for the restoration of City Hall by mid-November.
In a press release last week, the M&CC related that the proposal for the fund, made by Mayor Patricia Chase-Green, was endorsed by council members at the last statutory meeting.
It was stated that the fund will be managed by a special civic committee, made up of corporate leaders, investors and stakeholders from civil society.
Furthermore, a special forum is expected to be held as a consultative exercise between local community members, who will be engaged in identifying the best approaches to establishing and managing the fund.
Described as “Victorian Exuberance in time,” and once dubbed “the most handsome building in Georgetown,” City Hall, according to the release, was first opened in July, 1889.
It was stated that the building “is an interpretation in wood, of the masonry construction ‘fancy dress’ style Gothic Revival Architecture, very prevalent during the Victorian era in Great Britain.”
Its features include a tower, mahogany covered ceilings and Demerara windows and shutters.
The municipality has faced criticism for failing to maintain the building, which has been described as a hazard as a result of a porous roof, severely deteriorated sections of flooring in the Council Chamber, visibly deteriorating support beams and a wiring system that has not been upgraded in over 100 years.
In September, Chief Executive Officer of the National Trust Nirvana Persaud had told this newspaper that the European Union (EU)-funded Comprehensive Restoration and Sustainable Conservation Management Plan to restore the deteriorating building should be completed by year-end and she urged that it be implemented as soon as possible afterward.
In December last year, the EU and the Georgetown Mayor and City Council signed the contract for the creation of the plan, which was awarded to EURONET Consulting GEIE for €279,196 [$64 million].
