The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A PROMINENT Freeport lawyer is calling on the powers that be to force property owners of dilapidated buildings in the City of Freeport to fix them up or sell them.

Branford Christie said that Freeport looks like a “ghost town” because there are so many run down buildings in the city. Although the lawyer did not identify the properties, some buildings that stand out as eyesores are the closed Royal Oasis Resort property, the Winston Churchill Building and the Xanadu Beach Resort, to name a few.

“I would really like to see somebody put pressure on the owners of dilapidated buildings to either fix them up or sell them because they are not improving these structures but they want to have above market price,” Mr Christie 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 - it makes the city feel like a ghost town.”

Mr Christie’s stepdaughter, Olivia Pages, recently purchased the old, rundown Stoned Crab Restaurant property on Taino Beach. “I overpaid so much,” said Ms Pages, who plans to renovate and restore the restaurant to its former glory through a capital investment of $2.4m, including the purchase price.

“I am hoping that between the government, the GB Port Authority, and the owners,” Mr Christie said, “that something can be done to either improve them, or for the owners to sell them because they are not maintaining these properties and are holding out for what I considered unreasonable market price for the property, and so we have a stalemate situation, and this needs to be addressed as soon as possible.”

This is not the first time that Mr Christie has spoken out on the issue concerning dilapidated buildings in the Freeport area.

“I am a director of the Port Authority and this is a concern for us,” he said, explaining that it is difficult to take away people’s property or knock them down, even though they may be an eyesore.

“There is a process and the Port Authority does not have the legislative authority in place to do this, so it is a tedious process,” he said.

In May, the Grand Bahama Port Authority launched a derelict building enhancement project, which involves eight unsightly buildings in high traffic areas. Local artist Sheldon Saint has been contracted to beautify the structures with his depictions.