LIKE FORGOTTEN CHARACTERS from a bygone era, the mostly abandoned structures on the former Ministry of Health complex on Jemmotts Lane in Bridgetown stand as testimony to how we Barbadians disregard our heritage.
Once majestic edifices, toasts to the finest in Barbadian architecture and workmanship that feature mostly two-foot thick coral stone walls, are now reduced to roofless, gutted, ignored derelicts.
This shameful abandonment is compounded by the mutilation of one of them. It was the final insult inflicted on what was supposed to be a gift to celebrate Barbados.
That’s why Senator Dr Henry Fraser is determined to see the historic architectural treasures on the near two-acre site at Jemmotts Lane restored to their former glory.
And, though a voice seemingly crying in the wilderness, he’s calling for action to be taken to make the entire complex a functional showpiece of Barbadian architectural excellence.
“A lot of buildings there are still usable, restorable, and part of the historic Bridgetown site,” said Fraser, and he noted that like the Nightingale Nurses Home, they could be given a new lease of life at a reasonable cost.
Advancing five reasons why the restoration of the complex should be prioritized, Professor Fraser said:
• They are of enormous historic importance, telling the story of health care in Barbados in the post-Emancipation era.
• The hospital was built by private funds through public donation from the merchants and other ‘do-gooders’ who saw the need, with the coming of Emancipation, to provide the care that slave owners used to give.
• They are almost all well over 100 years to 150 years old.
• They are of architectural interest, as well as historical interest, having served as various Government agencies after being decommissioned from being the island’s first major hospital.
• They could be used as offices at far less cost than the Barbados Water Authority “palace” being constructed in the Pine for reportedly nearly $40 million.
“I would like to see the whole complex restored and utilization of the site because there is a lot of room to do other things with,” stressed Professor Fraser, an architectural historian and author/co-author of eight books on architectural history and heritage, including recent third edition of Historic Houses Of Barbados and A – Z Of Barbados Heritage.
“I’d like to see the Tercentenary Ward restored as a hostel as promised; the old surgical suite that’s roofless with just walls restored; and the old Ministry of Health building used for something prestigious, not the Ambulance Service,” he said.
In addition, the senator said that to maximize the use of the site at the back of the complex, where the old National Insurance building is located, as well as the Barbados Family Planning, a five-storey block and a car park could be built. And at the front, it could be landscaped like a park, with the derelict Barbados Drug Service buildings being removed.
A professor emeritus of the University of the West Indies, he said what he had in mind was the rejuvenation of the complex to display the elegance of classic Barbadian architecture to complement the nearby Garrison as well as Bridgetown’s designation as a World Heritage Site.