More consultation needed for old Speaker’s house

There needs to be more consultation among concerned parties about the restoration and conservation of the government-owned building that once housed the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The building, which is about 100 years old, has been earmarked for demolition because it was not included by the National Trust on the list of properties to be preserved, along with the Magnificent Seven.

The house is at 9 Mary Street, St Clair. The last occupant was Speaker Occah Seapaul, in the 1990s.

This week Newsday was informed that Cabinet had given the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs approval to build a new ministry on the site. The Urban Development Corporation said then that salvageable parts of the century-old building would be retained. But there are no restrictions in place to prevent its demolition, and no repairs or restoration have been carried out.

President of the NGO Citizens for Conservation Rudylynn Roberts said the organisation has been lobbying “everybody who might be able to help with this situation” for the restoration of the building, which was last occupied by former House Speaker Occah Seepaul.

“Last Friday we met with a representative from the Office of the Prime Minister. We have held meetings with Town and Country Planning and the National Trust and we have made a request to go and photograph and document the building,” Roberts told the Newsday on Thursday.

She said they were awaiting feedback from the meetings.

“It is an old building and has been abandoned for ten years or more. It has been tested by the Historical Restoration Unit from the Ministry of Works regarding its condition. We were told while it was dilapidated and needed some work, it was not structurally unsound,” she said.

Roberts said while the Works Ministry did a report on the building, it had no cost estimate for what was needed for restoration

“We can’t have a figure pulled out of the air. You have to do a dilapidation survey. You have to crawl under the building, get up into the attic and see what the roof looks like. In order to get a budget you have to see those things through, otherwise you are just guessing.

“I have not been inside of the building in years. I know after Occah Seapaul left, the living room and dining-room areas had beautiful detailing. The tiles and the porch are lovely, with beautiful patterns from the turn of the 19th century. The building does have some architectural character. Town and Country had first suggested that it be a historic building,” Roberts said. She said it was part of a landscape in a historic neighbourhood.

“There is also a covenant in that area, and covenant takes approval over statutory approval. This is what we have been trying to get the authorities to understand: that there needs to be more consultation before they make a decision,” Roberts said.

The National Trust has indicated that the Jackson Square District was designated by the Town and Country Planning Division several years ago in recognition of its ‘old world’ residential nature.

A statement from the Trust said its location just behind the Magnificent Seven and the Samaan and Royal Palm trees along with other buildings, while not all being over 100 years old, have “maintained the architectural styles and densities of the neighbourhood.”

The Trust said that the District’s potential role for the creation of a zone associated with the Magnificent Seven could result into additional residential activity, embassies, restaurants, museums and art galleries which could increase economic activity associated with a Heritage District.