Eric Williams Museum delayed

A sign is the only sign that restoration works have been planned for the Trinidad Public Library, corner of Knox and Pembroke Streets, Port of Spain.
A sign is the only sign that restoration works have been planned for the Trinidad Public Library, corner of Knox and Pembroke Streets, Port of Spain.

DOMINIC KALIPERSAD

Restoration work on the old Trinidad Public Library building in Port of Spain appears to be in limbo.

As a result, the establishment of an Eric Williams Memorial Library has been delayed.

Only the first of three phases of rehabilitation of the historic building has been completed.

According to a source at the National Trust, the first phase included replacing the roof and the flooring of the ground and first floors, structural retrofitting to earthquake and library standards, balustrading,  restoring outdoor brick and stonework and external doors and windows, and electrical installations.

Funding disbursement would determine the start of phase two. This would entail finishing electrical work, installing air-conditioning, internal wall, floor and ceiling finishes and constructing an annex.

Phase three would be finishing fixtures, special space planning and outfitting for the museum and library, etc, the National Trust source said.

When completed, the building, next to City Hall and opposite Woodford Square, is proposed to be a museum in honour of the country’s first prime minister, Dr Eric Williams.

The Eric Williams Memorial Collection, currently housed in the library of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, is expected to be on permanent display in the museum.

In 2016, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young said the building would be leased to UWI for 99 years to allow for the display.

It was at the Trinidad Public Library, around 1950, that Williams and others began presenting lectures on history and current events. Dom Basil Matthews, Rudranath Capildeo and a number of young budding politicians and scholars of the day gathered there for debates on issues of national and international importance. Calypsonian-cum-politician Raymond Quevedo, better known as Atilla the Hun, and Mitto Sampson also gave lectures on culture.

In 1953 and 1955, Williams delivered two major series of lectures on the theme: The Social and Political History of the West Indies.

In March 2011, the then Opposition Leader, Dr Keith Rowley, urged the Government to convert the building into a museum to house the Williams collection.

He said, “That building across the street where Dr Williams conducted those famous lectures the lines – while architecturally superb, it is being left to rot unattended.

Vines are the only signs of life at the site of the Trinidad Public Library where restoration work has stalled. PHOTOS BY SUREASH CHOLAI

“It should be made available to UWI to house the Eric Williams collection,” he added.

“It could not be a more fitting place – right next to Woodford Square. It would marry the library with Williams’ history and we’d have an academic shrine in the centre of Port of Spain for persons who want to walk into the life of Eric Williams.”

Five years later, under the Rowley government, restoration work began in 2016.

The Trinidad Public Library was constructed in 1901 on the site of the house of Trinidad’s first British Governor, Sir Thomas Picton.

Opened to the public in April 1902, it was the first purpose-built library building in the English-speaking Caribbean.

In 1994, the West Indian collections of the Public and Central Libraries were merged to form the Heritage Library, which was housed in the Public Library.

The building also continued to house the Port of Spain Public Library until the newly-built National Library was opened in 2003.

By then, the deterioration of the building necessitated the relocation of the Heritage Library to the second floor of the new National Library. The old library building deteriorated further over the ensuing years.

Responsibility for the ongoing restoration project has shifted from the National Library and Information System Authority (Nalis) to the Office of the Prime Minister.

It was proposed that, when restored, the museum be named the Eric Williams Research Library, Archives and Museum at the University of Woodford Square.

At present, it is generally referred to as the Eric Williams Memorial Library.

Until the green light is given to proceed with phases two and three of the restoration, a completion date is still to be fixed.

Comments

"Eric Williams Museum delayed"

More in this section