The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

UNIVERSITY of The Bahamas-North signed an agreement yesterday to acquire the Kipling Complex for its new campus in downtown Freeport.

The historic signing is a realisation of “seven years of visioning” by UB, and its ongoing negotiations with Vereance & Company, owned by the late Havard Cooper Sr and his family.

UB North’s $11m campus in East Grand Bahama was destroyed by Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, leaving hundreds of students and faculty displaced for the past two years.

Dr Ian Strachan, president of UB-North, was at the forefront of the negotiations for the acquisition of the two-story four-building complex located in the heart of downtown for development of a new campus in Freeport.

Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin, Minister for Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey, and Henry St George, executive director of Port Group Ltd, and the Cooper family attended the event.

Ms Hanna Martin said the occasion “signifies important national progress.”

She stated that the UB downtown campus will be a companion for the soon to be constructed research facility at the original campus in East Grand Bahama.

“This university is the product of an early envisioning by our founding fathers who saw that the Bahamian people could move from the limitation of a grade six learning barrier pre-1967 to boundless realms of higher learning to PHDs and an entire range and scope of post graduate study and specialisations,” she said.

She said her father, the late AD Hanna, was one of those early fathers of the nation who saw and imagined the possibilities and who understood the meaning of a university such as UB. “It is ironic that we are here today on what would have been his 94th birthday,” she said.

“This announcement today represents a rising up out of the shambles of destruction and chaotic force that represents both nature’s fallout and man-made economic failings. Today is a strong message to our nation,” she said.

“University of The Bahamas is a driving force for our positive national development. With God’s help, we are seeing the dawning of a new day for Grand Bahama and the nation in general.”

Dr Rodney Smith, UB president, said the renovation of the complex will immediately begin to transform the immediate area.

He stated that the International Building has been a landmark for both locals and visitors.

“I am confident that the university will bring that prestige back to the complex and it will become a hub of transformation and revitalisation,” Dr Smith said.

Dr Smith noted that before the devastation and loss of the UB-North campus, caused by Hurricane Dorian, they were planning for a downtown campus to better serve the working and commuter students.

“After Hurricane Dorian, we became even more certain that UB-North needed a home in downtown Freeport, and that the home must be the Kipling Complex,” he said, thanking Dr Strachan for his vision and perseverance in yesterday’s manifestation.

He believes UB’s presence there will encourage growth and bring economic boost to businesses in the downtown area and attract new businesses.

Dr Smith added: “Even more partners are needed now to help build a university campus that will meet the needs of Grand Bahama and the Northern Bahamas.”

Allyson Maynard Gibson, chair of UB’s board of trustees, said the acquisition of the Kipling Complex is a milestone in the growth and development of UB and UB-North, in particular.

“We have been collectively working to develop a world-class university system that not only moves The Bahamas towards a progressive path, but equips its citizens to create and seize opportunities in a dynamic world. A world where creativity, imagination and an ability to adapt are key. Today’s signing of a purchase and sale agreement for the Kipling Complex is yet another step in the positive trajectory for UB-North, the city of Freeport, Grand Bahama and The Bahamas at large,” she said.

Dr Strachan said that he promised students of UB-North following the destruction of the campus in EGB that the institution would return bigger and better than before.

“Thanks to the effort of so many people, including the Cooper family, and the university’s board of trustees under the capable leadership of our chair Allyson Maynard-Gibson, that promise will be kept,” he said.