Pan finds home in Port of Spain

PAN TRINBAGO's new headquarters at the old General Post Office, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, will cost an estimated $120 million, a release from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts said on August 26.

It is proposed that the headquarters should be a six-storey, mixed-use building, with Pan Trinbago office space, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, Tourism Trinidad Ltd, the National Carnival Commission, a theatre/auditorium with seating for 300, a pan museum and interpretive centre, conference and meeting rooms, rooftop entertainment area, gift shop, cafeteria and parking facilities.

The release added that it is being proposed that state entities housed at the building will not be required to pay rent to Pan Trinbago for up to 50 years.

“It is anticipated that the theatre/auditorium, pan museum, gift shop, rooftop and cafeteria will earn additional revenue for Pan Trinbago,” the release said.

The Prime Minister announced on August 24, at the Pan is More Beautiful orchestra finals, that Pan Trinbago and the Government had agreed to a design for a headquarters “worthy of its location” in the capital.

Dr Rowley also promised then that the public would see the architects’ rendering of what the building would look like.

“I am guaranteeing you that you will be proud," he said, explaining that it would look "somewhere like a pan in the city of Port of Spain, the only city in the world that will have a building like that.

“Pan Trinbago and the Government will share that building, with Pan Trinbago using its share of the building to support its financial ventures and be in a location worthy of the home where steelband was invented.”

About the space

The ministry's release said the Wrightson Road space is approximately 44,347 square feet.

It said the current building – which was last used by the Surveys and Mapping division, Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries – would be demolished.

It added that Pan Trinbago would be owners of the land and the property to be constructed. A special-purpose company would be responsible for administration, maintenance, rental, and other logistical tasks related to the building's use.

Ramsey-Moore: Serious negotiations

Pan Trinbago president Beverley Ramsey-Moore said the organisation had negotiated “really hard” with the Government about the land swap.

Pan Trinbago was previously to have been based in Trincity, but its proposed base there is abandoned and unfinished.

In a phone interview on Monday, Ramsey-Moore said, “We know that Pan Trinbago is a very important institution here in Trinidad and Tobago and, we, as leaders, would have been giving our time to the development of this country by using pan as a vehicle for social transformation.”

Ramsey-Moore said as long as organisations/people outline their worth and the role they play in the country in terms of crime reduction, youth development, the empowerment of women, recreation for senior citizens, human capital development, then they can negotiate.

Pan Trinbago was able to convince the Government to help with building the facility, she said. The site and building were agreed on.

“There would have been other things that we would have worked out in terms of the occupancy,” she added.

Ramsey-Moore said even if the Government spends the money on construction, it stood to benefit, as the line ministry would be housed there for a number of years, rent free.

In April, Newsday broke the story of Pan Trinbago’s new headquarters. In an interview then, Ramsey-Moore said the headquarters would be in Port of Spain, in a prime area for business activity.

This was after the Prime Minister's April 18 announcement that an Indian firm, Reliance Industries, and the Government had entered a deal to build a cricket academy at the former abandoned and unfinished Pan Trinbago headquarters.

Ramsey-Moore also said then the decision to swap the land was not taken by the organisation's executive only, and that an emergency meeting was held where permission was sought from its members.

She also said the organisation would be able to generate much more revenue at its new location and would have a museum, roof-top entertainment, a gift shop, spaces for rent and other businesses.

Ramsey-Moore again said on Monday that several businesses would operate out of the space.

“As you know, Pan Trinbago must diversify its revenue streams.”

She said there would be steeldrums on sale, a space for tourists to buy TT-branded items and a recording studio, among other things.

Pan Trinbago intends to set up a company to ensure the running and operations of that, she said.

Responding to criticisms from former Pan Trinbago members about the proposed design and usage, Ramsey-Moore said nothing was done with the original site for 21 years and the plans dating from then were “pipe dreams.”

“Pan Trinbago will continue to negotiate for additional land space for other steelpan activities. Pan Trinbago does not have to get directly involved in any industry. We can be a part of a company, we can form partnerships and all of that.

“This nonsense about gas station, hotel and conference room is pipe dreams.

"I am not about pipe dreams. I am a woman of action. A woman serious about the business and development of this industry and about our organisation.

“As such we are going to start from here and then we are going to move forward.”

She said she had no concerns about the land or leasing issues, as there was an agreement to give that land to Pan Trinbago.

“We are in the process of working all of that out. So the land would be in our name, in the name of Pan Trinbago. As we said, it is a swap. It will be in the name of the organisation.”

Feeling 'awesome' on new HQ

She said it was an awesome feeling to finally get it moving, and the organisation had done its work.

“We have worked extremely hard, night and day, to rebrand the image and for people to understand the invaluable contribution we make as an organisation to TT.”

She said it was not just about entertainment but, rather, community, youth and social development.

“During the year, we keep so many young people focused in the panyards. Our women come into the panyard. We can use those spaces to change generations, and this is what we have been doing.

“So it is not just about the entertainment, the wine and the jam. It is about people development, and as an organisation, we are playing our role in the governance of this nation.”

History of the HQ

The release said in 1974 (then prime minister) Dr Eric Williams gave a two-acre parcel of land in Chaguaramas to the organisation.

Then in 2011, the Basdeo Panday-led administration gave Pan Trinbago an eight-acre parcel of land in Trincity. But the release said that land was never properly transferred to Pan Trinbago.

In 2011, Housing and Environment Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal promised the pan headquarters would be completed in 2012, more than a decade after construction had started. It was expected to cost $13 million.

In 2019, some people described the partial construction on the Trincity land as an eyesore.

The ministry’s release said over the years past governments had made many public promises to construct a headquarters for Pan Trinbago, but it was only this year that “tangible progress” was being made.

“Complemented by the assistance of Pan Trinbago’s line ministry and the natural nexus between TT tourism offerings alongside Carnival and steelpan events, housing all related entities in one common building will support the improvement of synergies and stakeholder relations, as well as the advancement of national projects,” it said.