The Empire Theatre and a national cultural centre are among priorities for Government as it seeks to focus on entertainment and culture as major planks of the Barbados economy.
This is the word from Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley, who wants The Empire restored to its former glory and a new cultural centre built to seat over 8 000 people.
“The Empire is not just any structure; it’s a very historic building,” he told journalists at the monthly Editors’ Forum at the NATION’s complex in Fontabelle last Wednesday.
“Cabinet has already awarded a contract for The Empire Theatre to a local conglomerate of companies. They have had to go through the process of submitting a proposal to the Barbados World Heritage Committee since The Empire falls within the UNESCO World Heritage property. They have [also] gone to the Town Planning Department [and] I am told that process should be concluded fairly soon. We have done what we had to do and the process now, in terms of the regulatory part of it, has clicked in,” he added.
Lashley explained that the project approved by Government for The Empire was to have it restored and used as a craft brewery and a performing theatre space with a seating capacity of about 250.
“The business plan is that the craft brewery will help to sustain the theatre space,” he added, noting that the building which had been opened in 1922 and closed in the mid-1970s had been the topic of much discussion while gradually deteriorating and becoming in recent years a haven for rodents and insects.
In relation to the ultramodern cultural centre, Lashley said the Chinese government had indicated an interest in funding it, and land had been allocated for it.
“We’re going to put that proposal to them again. This is one of two projects at the top of the agenda,” he informed, noting the other was the total reconstruction of the outdated National Stadium at Waterford, St Michael.
He said the cultural centre would be essential if Barbados hoped to attract major international entertainment events, such as the Indian film festival known as the IFA, which he and a private sector delegation attended in China last year.
“We were working strenuously to get this prestigious event in Barbados. It is held in major cities across the world and it not only has a legacy benefit but an immediate impact on the economy with so many Bollywood stars and fans coming into your country,” he recalled.
“But what created a challenge was that this event needs a venue to seat at least 8 000 people, and the Gymnasium can only hold 5 000. You need to have an indoor facility for a televised international event such as IFA, and therefore it tells you there is so much potential but we have not been paying attention to infrastructure that would allow us to attract some of these major events.
“We’re keen on attracting IFA but we’re going to build an international cultural centre first. Once we do that, we would be in the market to host a number of international events. That event is telecast to an audience of 500 million across the world, and the Indian diaspora alone has the potential to not only do business with Barbados but they certainly move around the globe looking for various investments,” he added.
Lashley said the construction of cultural facilities would therefore put Barbados in a potentially advantageous economic position.
