Gordon’s lighthouse is once again shining brightly. The 166-year-old structure in Atlantic Shores, Christ Church, was officially reopened last Thursday to much fanfare after months of extensive work.
In delivering his official remarks, Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy said its reopening would pay dividends for Barbados’ tourism sector.
“East Point and North Point, while not as unique as South Point, are still unique in their own way and each have a particular story to tell,” he said of the island’s lighthouses.
“And it is our belief that the story of the Barbados lighthouses is one that can be told and marketed to improve our tourism offering.”
Sealy said the redevelopment of the other three lighthouses, besides the 89-foot-tall cast iron Gordon’s Lighthouse, could also serve as an opportunity to tell Barbadians about their own history.
He revealed that as a child, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart had been taken for safe shelter in the Ragged Point Lighthouse in St Philip during Hurricane Janet in 1955.
The minister said that same lighthouse was scheduled to be reopened by Stuart in a few weeks.
Built in 1852, Gordon’s Lighthouse is the oldest on the island, and while it fell into disrepair in recent years, Innotech Equipment Inc. took up the task of renovating the iconic structure featured on the 25 cent coin. (AD)
