TWO PROJECTS involving the historic Block A Barracks at the Garrison and the Empire Theatre in Bridgetown remain stalled because of planning permission and a lack of funding.
As Government tries to source the money to retrofit the Barracks, the Town and Country Planning Department has turned down Preconco Ltd’s plans for the restoration of the Empire.
It was in 2015 that Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley revealed the former home of the Caribbean Examinations Council – the 1808 Block A Soldiers Barracks at the Garrison – would be refurbished and retrofitted before becoming the permanent home of the National Art Gallery.
Two years earlier, the minister had revealed Mark Maloney’s company, Preconco, had been given the contract to restore the crumbling Empire. (HLE)
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