PETER STEVENS was born in Barbados to non-Barbadian parents.
Stevens’ father was one of the 1961 founders of the Barbados National Trust, and now, this son is walking in his father’s shoes, working to protect the natural and artistic heritage of Barbados and to increase public awareness of the island’s treasures, as head of the organisation founded to do exactly that.
When the Stevens family moved on from Barbados, eight-year-old Peter went with them but in his mind he had already decided Barbados was really where he wanted to live and as he grew he knew somehow he would find himself back here one day.
The lure to return remained strong no matter where he went and as he said, “I always knew I wanted to come back to this island.” He did at age 36.
Stevens believes heritage should be useful to a people and should inform development. He is making it a fundamental part of his mission during his president’s term to foster a profile of relevance of the trust that he hopes will earn the organisation wider public acceptance.
And he maintains that just as the world is changing, the trust in this era must change and adapt to new situations.
“We do need to be much more outspoken. We do have very specific opinions, we follow certain international protocols, and I think we need to be more outspoken about what we truly believe,” he said.
Not an option
When he came back to Barbados to live, membership of the Trust was, for him, not an option. He joined readily and soon found himself serving on the council and later on the executive.
It was only after a brief hiatus last year that he decided, “I had a little more to give; I saw how I could be effective as president so I took a little bit of a risky step and put myself forward for what became the first contested election in the National Trust history and I was lucky enough to be chosen.”
Before this he had poured his 1980s passion for historical research into work with the Garrison Consortium at the invitation of founder of the consortium, James Blades.
“My work with James Blades at the consortium is what has shown me both sides of heritage. There is the strictly research side, where you can basically do what you want to – you get the information and it does not necessarily mean anything except to you and to anyone else who is interested.
“The other side is how you turn that into something that is of interest to the public. This is where tourism comes in and interpretation and all that stuff.”
Reaping success
Without some kind of understanding of culture or heritage, whether it is intangible or tangible such as buildings, says Stevens, “social structure can be lost and things like crime increase”.
The Garrison Consortium is reaping success with its efforts to develop the Garrison as a heritage site and Barbadians and visitors have been taking advantage of the tours of the area. Of even greater significance is the UNESCO World Heritage Inscription won for Bridgetown and its Historic Garrison. Stevens was part of the bidding process.
He told the SUNDAY SUN: “If we get rid of our entire heritage we have lost those things, those landmarks that can give us an idea of how we got where we are. Those landmarks don’t have to be nice pieces of history; they can be awful pieces of history but they have had an effect on us.”
He added: “Without some kind of understanding of our culture, our heritage, whether it is tangible or intangible like buildings, we can actually start to lose social structure and things like crime increase.”
According to the trust president, the organisation is basically tasked with conserving architectural landmarks and historical sites, as well as natural sites that are considered important for the well-being of everybody.
Such treasures, he observed, can oftentimes be removed from the landscape because of other natural human processes such as development, which sometimes does not take the social element into account.
“I actually think of the National Trust as not just an organisation that conserves and preserves old buildings, parks, landscapes but it is really an organisation that is here to preserve our ability to produce good works,” Stevens said.
He plans to build on the foundation laid by predecessors like the last president Dr Karl Watson.
“I think that the National Trust is very important to Barbados in its entirety and I do agree that Barbadians would consider the National Trust a valuable national organisation and it is not because it isn’t. It is because I don’t think we have promoted it or marketed it in a way that crosses that bridge securely.”
Stevens aims to demonstrate that the organisation “is not just for the special few”.
“Its objects are really designed for Barbados and not to satisfy any particular cliquey group and so what I want to show is that what we are doing is something than can have a broad-based appeal.”
“And if it means that we have to change some of the things that we do to be more effective, then that is exactly what we will do.”
For one, Stevens and the Trust’s new general manager Miguel Pena are taking a hard look at the structure of the organisation.
Major attraction
Attention is also focused on National Trust projects and properties such as the Morgan Lewis Mill, which is in the process of being restored as a major tourism attraction and is expected to be completed by November.
Consideration is also being given to revamping Arlington House in St Peter to make the use of that building more relevant to the Speightstown community and to the visitor.
And Stevens said attention was being paid to other National Trust sites such as Welchman Hall Gully and Andromeda Gardens.
“I am also aware that some of these attractions were opened in the 1960s and the tourism market has moved on in the last 50 years, so we do need to look at all these sites with a new set of glasses on because people are not using them the same way they used to use them.”
“We basically need to reposition them so that they become of greater interest because some of those older sites do not carry the same interest today as they did back in the 60s and 70s.”
He added that government also has a responsibility with regard to heritage that is “very, very broad”. (GC)