The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

SENATOR Randy Rolle, a Ministry of Tourism, Investment and Aviation consultant, said the Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation got in the way of the ministry’s aggressive approach to ridding Downtown of dilapidated buildings.

His comment came when downtown business owners gathered on Wednesday to discuss efforts to revitalise Bay Street.

He said legislation governing the management of Downtown should be introduced before the end of the summer.

“One of the initiatives that we’ve started is the derelict buildings are a horrible look,” he said. “Nobody wants to see it. We took an aggressive approach, then we got a call from Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation (AMMC), saying it’s an historic building, you can’t necessarily take it down right away, and so it slowed down the process, but it’s something that we’re trying to work on.

“As you can appreciate, there has been a challenge back and forth because I, like others, accept the fact that we have historical buildings. But if you own a building and you have no intention of fixing up your business, you have no intention of doing anything, certainly, it’s unfair to everyone else to just have it sit there forever and ever for the next 50 years.”

The state of Nassau has been criticised for years, with many feeling that efforts to demolish derelict buildings in the city have been slow.

Craig Delancy, the buildings control officer in the Ministry of Works, said careful collaboration among the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Tourism and the AMMC is needed to avoid reckless demolitions.

“We know that there are a number of buildings in the Downtown area that are in a dilapidated state,” he said. “The law does give us the right to issue notices for persons to have those buildings either repaired or demolished. Depending on whether they are of any imminent danger or a nuisance to the public, such as being able to harbour vagrants and criminal activities, we can issue an order.

“We have issued some notices to a few of the building owners and we’re waiting to hear what action they would like to take. Our notices are normally given out for 60 days and after that time, the minister can make a determination as to what to do.

“We want to make sure we don’t just recklessly go and demolish those structures.”

Gevon Moss, project manager of the Downtown Nassau Partnership, said he looks forward to legislation to manage downtown.

“We’re hoping that in a short amount of time, after the necessary review and everyone being able to consult on that document, we will then have a tool that we can use to ensure that people do what needs to be done in order to make sure that not only do we have a great downtown and a great destination, but it’s something that is sustainable, the responsibilities are shared and people recognise what their impact is,” he said.

“We realise that if we don’t put in place the right framework in terms of the long-term sustainability for us to manage our city like proper cities are managed, we will run into similar problems that you see happening like crime, people not maintaining their buildings, garbage issues, rodent problems and all these things,” he said.