Vale Royal distress

 

Architect Hugh Dunbar says immediate action is needed to save the historic Vale Royal, the former home of Jamaican prime ministers.

 

Vale Royal was designated as the official residence of the Prime Minister but the building has fallen into disrepair and sections of the building have already collapsed. 

 

Mr Dunbar, speaking Monday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines, urged that action be taken immediately to stop the immediate deterioration of the building, as a prelude to its restoration, "because, having been locked up for such a long time, and having identified that there were structural problems from 2013, those things should have been addressed, in order to stop it."

 

Mr Dunbar added that once the renovation is completed, mechanisms mest be put in place to protect the building, including fire safety mechanisms and "the applicable technologies to ensure that you have security."

 

 

Lt. Col. Geoffrey Roper, of the citizens group, Friends of Vale Royal, who joined the discussion on Beyond the Headlines, revealed that, from as far back as 2020, his group had initiated discussions with the Office of the Prime Minister regarding the restoration of the building, "even going as far as fund raising for the restoration..."

 

He said the lobby group followed-up on that initial outreach in 2021 and 2022, "and really have not had much joy in getting any sort of response from OPM, in a positive way."

 

"We would like to see it restored as a property that Jamaicans can visit," he said, while endorsing the idea of it being used, in part, as a museum featuring the legacies of former prime ministers.

 

The grounds could also be used for live performances, featuring "soft music," he suggested. 

 

 

Carole Beckford, a former Jamaica Film Commissioner, recalled that when she held that office, she had recommended that Vale Royal be used as a film house, used to record episodic features.

 

She also highlighted the fact that Vale Royal has one of only two tenns clay courts in the Corporate Area, "the other being in somebody's private home."