Dear Editor,
A picture might be a thousand words, but it still leaves much unsaid. I do something borderline today: I refer to a front-page picture SN’s that had the bolded introductory words: “It all came down” (SN March 24). It was “of the once popular Water Chris hotel and restaurant on Waterloo and Quamina Sts.” that went down in a heap. I am thinking what goes down here usually comes up as a bigger monstrosity.
I remember Water Chris and the Sip and Chat lounge, from when I had to pass by and look the other way: plenty ideas, paltry pockets. Enough said. Now, the former has gone down and it is sure to be replaced in that prime spot by the Georgetown equivalent of a Manhattan skyscraper. Maybe another hotel to house the sojourner; or a casino for the well-heeled, the high-heeled, and the high rollers to get rolling. Maybe both under one roof, and the higher the better. Ah, la dolce vita, Guyanese style; a real Roman Holiday. The only sparkles missing are gondolas and Audrey Hepburn; I will find someone to hang on my arm. Maybe, it’s the other way around. But I stray.
Editor, when Water Chris goes down, something goes up, which could be good, since it is up there, and out there. It is the surroundings of which I am anxious. Georgetown is already a daytime nightmare to navigate, and I mean every square inch of it. If navigating is daring Baghdad or Kabul or Peshawar, then I am almost afraid of mentioning parking, which is where I am going. I say this: as many new structures and replacement edifices go up, the streets and neighborhood in and around the town shrink exponentially.
There is one going up on Middle Street, which I understand has a big government name attached, and I am thinking of who is going to lay down the law to him. The town is not shrinking, it is swiftly disappearing when these architectural marvels (let’s be civilized today, please) crop up here, there, and everywhere. Like a dog laying claim by extending his hind leg, building owners and managers cast a long shadow into the street. Pity the pedestrians. Regarding drivers, my suggestion is simple: do like what the Ventures recommended: walk, don’t run. No parking signs are useless -routinely ignored. Wise drivers who park face forward and as close as possible to the lip of the road, discover that they are still blocked and locked in by those who simply park, and to hell with the traffic snarled behind and that can’t squeeze through. Nice place isn’t it!
Just the other morning (05:50hrs) on a Saturday, a waiting taxi blocks in front of the GPHC, a nurse waltzes out with a man in tow and unconscious to the world, carries on a conversation, and holds up the world. No wonder the colonials walk all over us. We deserve it.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
