The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net PLANS are "moving forward" toward the construction of Pompey Park at the western end of Bay Street, said Nassau Tourism Development Board chairman Charles Klonaris. Describing the fire which destroyed the block in December as nothing more than a "time setback" to downtown revitalisation efforts, Mr Klonaris said: "They are going to totally renovate Pompey museum and restore it as close as possible to what it was before. "It's a historic building and a a historic one for Nassau, as is the chapel which is next door to it. Both are historic, the chapel is privately owned and we have information that they are going to restore it again. That is moving forward. "Very shortly you are going to see tangible results in terms of this park taking place." Mr Klonaris added: "We are going to pave all of the intersections from Navy Lion Road all the way to East Street. We are on a path for the restoration of the city. "Even though those fires were a time setback, that's about all. We are determined that that park, Pompey Park will play an important role in the in revitalisation downtown. It's supposed to be a cultural centre where you will have live performances, families could come down and enjoy the beautiful green space we're are going to create which will connect to Woodes Rodgers Wharf and become an important land mark to downtown." Mr Klonaris said Pompey Park would compliment the new downtown straw market. He said: "It's going to be more than just a green space, it will become a park that we can utilise for a lot of events. We are going to extend it all the way to Woods Rodgers. There's going to be a nice circulation of traffic between the straw market Woodes Rodgers, the park and Bay Street. It's an important development and that's how we look at it." A huge fire last December, the second major fire on Bay Street, caused massive damage to the Pompey Museum, the temporary Straw Market site, the Balcony nightclub and the SunTime shop. The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined. Last February, a huge fire consumed an entire block of Bay Street, leaving in its wake millions of dollars in damage. The fire, which was believed to have begun on the second floor of the Betty K Building, also damaged the block from the Bacardi building on the corner of East and Bay streets, to the Kelly's dock yard. It also damaged the Adderley building.