The Tribune

RESIDENTS of Fort Fincastle are joining with the Antiquities, Monuments, and Museums Corporation for the full-scale restoration of the world class tourist sites known as the Queen’s Staircase, the Water Tower, and Fort Fincastle.

It is estimated the clean-up project will cost about $5.5 million and most of the funding is still being sought.

“We are honoured today to talk about some of our touristic sites in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas,” said Courtney Strachan, AMMC chairman, at a November 12 press conference.

Mr Strachan said they want to focus particularly on the Water Tower, once the second most popular tourist site in the Caribbean, which has been shut for 15 years.

He said the project, scheduled to begin November 24, will be led by the residents of Fort Fincastle and has been dubbed: “It’s All About Us.”

He said the initiative was suggested to the AMMC by the community, which took the initiative and “joined hands to clean the place up”.

As clean-up campaign will begin on Friday, November 23 at the Queen’s Staircase with the assistance of the Department of Environmental Health and will continue on Saturday, November 24, until 4pm.

“Fort Fincastle needs attention. We have in excess of a million tourists that visit the area every year, and we have some concerns,” said Mr Strachan.

“It is not clean; it is not groomed; there is an issue of crime; so we thought it best to start the process of first cleaning it up.

“What is going to happen over the next year or two, you will notice that Fort Fincastle will become one of the major tourist attractions in the Bahamas.”

Mr Strachan said the AMMC is in negotiations with UNESCO about transforming the Fort Fincastle area into a world heritage site.

He noted that the pathway where the straw vendors are situated is congested and said they will be moved to new and exciting “touristic gardens”.

The Water Tower will be repaired and it is proposed that a cultural village will be created nearby.

“We have plans on making it a walking zone, where we’re going to eliminate all of the vehicular traffic to the Fort.  

“We are going to meet with the stakeholders to make sure everybody shares in this plan. We are actively in negotiations with several of the landholders in the area to release their property to make drop off zones where our business partners, the taxis and the limousines, can park their vehicles and it will be a walking zone.”

Nickita Thompson, an employee at AMMC, said several government agencies are expected to assist with the clean-up, including DEHS, the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Urban Renewal, Her Majesty’s Prisons, and the Governor General’s Youth Awards organisation.

She also said the AMMC anticipates “tremendous support” from the residents, who showed excitement during a preliminary meeting the week before .

It was noted that strategic areas will be designated for garbage disposal, with bags and bins in place, and that corporate sponsors will provide food and water to those involved in the clean-up exercise.