The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Grand Bahama Port Authority has embarked on a beautification project to spruce up several dilapidated, abandoned buildings in Freeport with the help of well-known local Bahamian artist Sheldon Saint.

Six buildings have been identified, including the Country Squire building, on Queen’s Highway, which has been transformed from an eyesore. In addition to a fresh coat of paint, Mr Saint painted a mural of native flowers on the building’s exterior for an island-like feel.

Mr Saint is an award-winning Bahamian artist whose works have been exhibited extensively in The Bahamas. The self-taught artist has painting for 20 years, creating works in oil, watercolour and egg tempera. His works are featured in books and magazines. Mr Saint’s paintings hang in private collections in the Bahamas, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Republic of China, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Kim Miller, public relations officer at the GBPA, said that Mr Saint was commissioned for the project. “Work on the Squire building was completed on Friday – it is the first in a series of building improvements to be undertaken by the Port Authority in Freeport,” she said.

Although the buildings are privately owned, the Port Authority decided in May to step in and beautify hideous structures on main thoroughfares in the Port area.

The second building scheduled for transformation next week is the Sun Coral Plaza on East Sunrise Highway and Coral Road. Others targeted include the Royal Oasis Resort, The International Bazaar, The Winston Churchill Building and the Xanadu Beach Hotel.

A leading Freeport attorney recently called on the authorities to force property owners of dilapidated buildings in Freeport to fix them up or sell them. Brenford Christie, a real estate lawyer with McKinney Brancroft and Hughes, complained that there are too many run down buildings and that Freeport looks like a “ghost town”.

“I would really like to see somebody put pressure on the owners of these dilapidated buildings to either fix them up or sell them,” Mr Christie, who is a director of Port Group, said. “It is very disappointing to hear from prospective clients and visitors who come to Freeport complaining about the number of dilapidated buildings that exist.”