George Town will get a green area regardless of whether the Tower Building site is used for a park or not, Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts said on Friday.
Last September, Cabinet Minister Arden McLean said government was considering creating a park on the Tower Building site after it was demolished to help fill the need for a green area in George Town. Regardless of whether the site was used for a park, Mr. McLean said at the time another building would not be built there.
However on Friday, Mr. Tibbetts indicated that could change.
‘We have talked about several scenarios for the property in conjunction with the Legislative Assembly’s needs going into the future,’ he said.
With a lack of land around the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Tibbetts said it was important to consider the issue of the future need of additional parking and even the possible expansion of the Legislative Assembly building itself.
If land is taken from the Tower Building site for the Legislative Assembly, it could be just a small portion of the property, Mr. Tibbetts said.
Regardless, the green area could end up elsewhere, possibly at the site of the current government administrative offices at the Glass House.
Mr. Tibbetts said he was awaiting a report with recommendations from the government accommodations task force on what to do with the Glass House.
It is uncertain whether it makes sense to spend the money to make all the necessary improvements to the Glass House, or to just demolish it after the first of two new government accommodations buildings is constructed on the site next to the Glass House, Mr. Tibbetts said.
If the decision is made to demolish the Glass House, its site, which is larger than that of the Tower Building, could be used to create a park.
‘There could be a bigger green area (than originally thought),’ said Mr. Tibbetts. ‘But there will be a green area in George Town. My fellow ministers won’t let me forget that.’
With regard to the demolition to the Tower Building, there have been some difficulties.
The Tower Building has sat vacant since sustaining severe damage during Hurricane Ivan. Even before that, however, it was scheduled for demolition, and was often referred to as a ‘sick building’.
Mr. McLean stated in early September 2005 that the demolition would start within a few weeks.
However, when the demolition project was put out to tender, there was very little response, Mr. Tibbetts said.
‘We only had on real response,’ he said, noting that the bid was for approximately $800,000.
Mr. Tibbetts said a report was due in the near future that would recommend the way forward for the Tower Building’s demolition.
Related Videos
