An historic building in Jamaica is having its future decided, as two
groups debate what to do with the former offices of the country’s first university.
The University of West Indies opened in the property on Lady
Musgrave Road 64 years ago, but the fate of the house is now uncertain as a
non-profit organisation and a government group battle for control.
The university expanded from the site a while ago, spreading
overseas to countries including Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. The building
itself was then left for looters and weeds to take over, with the inside
ââ¬Åstripped cleanââ¬Â, reports the Jamaica
Observer.
Smashed glass and missing floorboards now characterise the
iconic structure, while squatters have regularly been removed by authorities. Now,
the Music Unites Jamaica Foundation is campaigning to turn the building into a
profit-making centre of culture, but the National Insurance Federation is
halting the process, citing ââ¬Åtechnicalitiesââ¬Â that are still unresolved with the
previous owners, the Housing Agency of Jamaica.
Speculation suggests that the building may instead be
bulldozed for residential property, but if the determined Music Unites group
gets their way, the historical home will not join the other houses for sale in Jamaica.
“Future generations will hate us when little or nothing
of Old Kingston is left,” one group member lamented.
