West Park for west Trinidad

BY Carnival next March, residents in west Trinidad will have their very own Queen's Park Savannah–well not regal. They will have the West Park Savannah.

The Port of Spain City Corporation, after fighting off the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) for ownership of the 23-acre spot in Diego Martin, began clearing the land in April. The green space, opposite West Mall, is the brainchild of former Port of Spain mayor and businessman Louis Lee Sing.

Lee Sing told Sunday Newsday he considered the idea after seeing large buildings erected from Chagauramas to Port of Spain and wanted a lush green area dedicated to those in the west to appreciate. Lee Sing was mayor from 2010-2013. During his tenure, in 2011, a dispute over the land arose between WASA and the PoS City Corporation which ended in court and the corporation won the case in 2013.

Lee Sing was pleased to hear the news that his vision would become reality.

"I am happy we are able to move from seizing the land from people who would want to usurp it. Certainly if it is coming to life, all those who are involved in its completion and its work must be commended. In a sense, even as I saw it then, I see it today," he said. "It is the last piece of flat land of any size between Carenage and Laventille. We are surrounded by brick, mortar and concrete. This green space will be parallel to the Queen’s Park Savannah. What the Savannah does for the heart of Port of Spain, the West Park Savannah will do for the west of Trinidad."

Lee Sing said he had wondered why nothing was happening at the site.

"I would pass on my way to Chagauramas and say to myself, 'what the Dickens are these people doing? Don’t they realise they need to get on with this assignment?' I am delighted to hear this, (about) whoever is involved in bringing this in to fruition," he said.

Commenting on the plan, Mayor Joel Martinez said the Urban Development Corporation of TT (Udecott) has been appointed as the project manager for West Park. He added that while the green space was a priority, with jogging and cycling tracks, part of the land will be allocated for the construction of the Diego Martin Regional Corporation Administration Building. The TT Electricity Commission will also be given a portion to expand their substation and another parcel may go towards the construction of a ramp from the Western Main Road, near the Westmoorings traffic lights, to the Diego Martin Highway. Martinez said Lee Sing's idea was a "good perspective", adding that he and the council "made some tweaks" to the original design.

Udecott has hired Aronco Services Ltd to construct the green space, jogging track, play park, car park, and the park administration building only, according to the corporation's corporate communications manager Roxanne Stapleton-Whyms. Aronco would also conduct the drainage work and landscaping which is expected to be completed by March 2019, at a cost of $6.5 million, VAT exclusive.

An abandoned building in the middle of the land, which some believed to be a church, is in fact the remnants of an old pumping station, according to historian Gerard Besson. The land once had wells and that gave rise to WASA's claim that it belonged to the utility. Besson said the pumping station was built by Harry Farrell in the 1900s.

"Some people have these crazy ideas that the building was a slave cell but no one was going to spend that kind of money to build something like that for slaves. Others thought it was a church because of the Gothic look but it was a pumping station because that land was very swampy. The Diego Martin area had a lot of estates at the time," Besson said, adding the building still has historical value even if the dollar value was minimal.

Besson said young societies, such as TT, had a tendency to tear down historical buildings to their detriment. Civilizations are judged on how they treat their historical records, he said, and while he was contented with the green space, he hoped the building would remain.

But Besson should not worry as Martinez confirmed the building would not be demolished. He could not say what exactly would be done but assured the building would remain in place.

Prior to Lee Sing's mayorship, the site was proposed for the construction of a secondary school and as recent as 2012, there was still some discussion on it.

"The school idea was prior to my assuming office and was not something we gave consideration too," he said.

The Education Ministry's media relations co-ordinator, Yolanda Morales-Carvalho, said the proposal for a school was no longer being pursued. She said ministry was focused on schools under construction.

Lee Sing said his vision was to mimic Nelson Mandela Park in St Clair which has a play area for children separate from a space for adults so children and their parents could enjoy the park with their peers.

"This (West Park) was intended to be a green space to be utilised by all the communities surrounding it, supervised by the laws that govern parks and green spaces in Port of Spain," he said.