Kingston: A green city or a concrete jungle?

Architect Ann Hodges has a letter in today’s Gleaner, a letter which focuses on the developments taking place on the street on which she lives – Lady Musgrave Road. In it, she expresses concerns that many people have, myself included, about the nature of some of the building that is taking place across the city. I have printed the letter in full below.

Letter of the Day – Highway or avenue?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Why do we put so much money and effort into making roads better for cars and practically no money into making roads and sidewalks better for people?

It has become clear that we need a radically different approach to urban roads and transport. A transport system that relies on motor cars to move people through the city (good though it may be for revenue collection on import duty and fuel tax) is not sustainable.

The city is heating up due to trees making way for asphalt and concrete. Jamaicans need to consider how we can contribute to the fight against global warming and climate change, and providing shade and good public transport in our cities would be a good start.

I recently took a walk from one end of Lady Musgrave Road in St Andrew to the other. In some places the sidewalk is blocked by branches and rubbish, and sometimes the sidewalk disappears altogether and pedestrians are forced into the carriageway to cross over a gully or drain.

For a few sections, there are street trees, the last remaining survivors of the trees planted in middle of the last century. For these short shady sections, it was a pleasant walk. Vendors and other pedestrians were friendly and curious to know what a white woman like me was doing walking rather than driving.

WIDEN TO WHAT END?

Lady Musgrave Road, like many in cities throughout the world, is a street lined with a mix of commercial and residential uses and could, therefore, potentially be much more than a highway across town.

If we were to develop the sidewalks, with an even surface, plant trees to cool and remove the obstacles and heaps of trash, Lady Musgrave Road could be a beautiful pedestrian and vehicular boulevard, leading from Old Hope Road to the gates of King’s House, with views of Vale Royal on the way.

The Government has announced that Lady Musgrave Road is to be widened to two lanes in each direction. This will leave even fewer sidewalks and no trees. We have to ask, to what end?

Traffic on Lady Musgrave is currently moderate except at peak hours. At peak hours, as a Jamaican traffic engineer currently practicing in DC has explained, the capacity of Lady Musgrave to move traffic is dependent on how many vehicles can leave the road at its ends. We can stack vehicles two abreast along Lady Musgrave, but it will not help if they cannot then get through the lights at Hope Road.

Also, as we have seen elsewhere, a four-lane highway becomes a racetrack off peak, which leads our engineering team wanting to put up concrete barriers to avoid head-on collisions! This is a vicious cycle and not a viable solution.

LACK OF JOINED-UP PLANNING

Jamaica and Kingston are suffering from a lack of joined-up planning. We are seeing a race to high-density development without any plans in place for the parks or walkable streets that would allow residents to access services.

Why does the National Works Agency plan for vehicles without planning for pedestrians? What is our transport policy? Why are we not planning for a public urban transport system that even an MP or CEO would be comfortable using?

I speak of the street where I live but the principle and situation are the same throughout the city.

Kingston has a choice between being a green city or a concrete jungle. At present, the Government and developers, with the acquiescence of the planners, seem to have chosen concrete.

ANN HODGES

Lady Musgrave Road

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Lightning Over Kingston & A Few Other Things To See

I was up in the hills with family last week, in the Blue Mountains, probably my favourite place in the world. One night I sat on a balcony, watching lightning flashing over Kingston just after sunset. I called my granddaughter to come and see & she climbed up on my lap to watch with me. After the first flash of lightning lit up the sky, she said, “More!” I explained to her that the lightning doesn’t come when we want it to, but that if we sit patiently and watch, we might see it again. And we did, a few more times.

There are so many smaller things to see also, like new mango leaves in the morning rain……moss growing on roof shingles……and cat tails (Acalypha hispida) sparkling with dew…

My love for the Blue Mountains goes back to childhood summer holidays, when we used to spend time at the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) camp at Newcastle. It was possible to rent some of the cottages and my siblings, cousins and I remember those times as magical.Just part of Jamaica’s Blue Mountain range…

How Closely Have You Looked At A Rusting Roof?

A zinc roof rusting…

…changes, depending on how near……or how far……you are……from it….

 

Beeline for the Beach: Weekly Photo Challenge – Lines

“This week, share a photo with a composition dominated by lines — hard or soft, straight or curvy, vertical or horizontal, or made in nature or as part of a cityscape.”

Boardwalk Beach…35 to 40 minutes from Kingston, depending on the traffic…the horizon…the wooden bench and fence…the shadows in the afternoon sun…

 

Weekly Photo Challenge – Lines

The Building Across the Road from the General Penitentiary

I know very little about the building across the road from the General Penitentiary (now called the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre), but have wondered about its history. It is a striking building, even in its derelict state.

I noticed it some time ago on a visit to the prison, which is itself in need of much repair and is certainly not suited for housing the men it does. The overcrowded, inhumane conditions do not lend themselves to the rehabilitation of the inmates in the custody of the state. Perhaps the condition of the building across the road is a visible reminder of things that have fallen apart.

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) website does mention the site on its list of past JNHT projects, referring to it as “the General Penitentiary Staff Club and Support Facilities compound” and says the following:

Tower Street – General Penitentiary

Parish: Kingston

Archaeological Impact Assessment Project (AIA)

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) has concluded a Heritage Assessment on lands situated at the General Penitentiary Staff Club and Support Facilities compound along Tower Street, Kingston Jamaica. This Heritage Assessment was carried out in response to the National Housing Trust’s (NHT) proposed development of inner city housing solutions on these lands

A team from the JNHT carried out an archaeological appraisal (survey) and architectural assessment of the proposed development area. Our main objective was to identify cultural heritage resources, appraise their worth and their potential contribution to the advancement of the community’s sustainable development.

Kingston was officially founded in 1692 after the catastrophic earthquake that devastated Port Royal. The city expanded from a small seaport town to a spreading city due in large measure to the creation of a number of townships which helped to increase its size. In the early 19th century, the town expanded in both easterly and north-westerly directions. Rae Town was one of the earliest of these planned extensions.

Most of the buildings along Tower Street possess exquisite Jamaican Georgian architecture, and along with the General Penitentiary, are fundamental features of the Tower Street historical streetscape. They are of great architectural and historical significance. It is important that these buildings be preserved and integrated into the proposed development.

I was told that neither the buildings of the Staff Club compound nor the prison buildings are on the JNHT list of declared sites.

This is a closer look at the site on Google maps, on which I have scribbled a few labels. The main derelict building is circled, with the arrow pointing to the front entrance. 2 shows the parking lot and 1 indicates the front gate of the prison across the road. 3 shows another nearby derelict building, pictures of which I have also included in this post.

The main entrance to the building is open and is flanked by doorways labeled Lecture Rooms No.1 and No.2, harking back to a time when the building was used for training for correctional officers. 

The door to Lecture Room No.1 still has a padlock on it, a rather ironic touch in the circumstances.

When you look through the front door, you can see the staircase and the doors to the two Lecture Rooms on either side.

Standing at the left end of the front porch…

…looking into Lecture Room No.2…

…with the list on the wall of 45 Qualities of a Good Prison Officer.

A walk down the porch along the left side of the building leads to the back of the structure, some of which seemed to be in slightly better condition.

Standing at the back, I could see through the hallway past the staircase, out through the front door, across the parking lot to the front of GP.

The porch along the right side of the building leads to a section that is made of brick on both storeys…

An open door off that porch revealed some signs of more recent habitation.

The short road running along the left side of the parking lot is labeled Tower Street on the Google map, but it isn’t THE Tower Street; it is a side road which has a dead end.

Looking the other way, down the road, you see a smaller building in disrepair and the front of GP.

This building is in two sections facing a small courtyard.

Both sections are in poor condition…

…but still show some of the distinctive features of the building.

I was very surprised to learn from some correctional officers who were in the parking lot that parts of the main building and the smaller building were used by some correctional officers for changing and even for staying overnight. Anyone having to use these buildings, particularly the upper storeys, is at real risk of injury and it raises an issue regarding provision of facilities for correctional officers who work at the correctional center.

So far I have found little information about these buildings and obviously there is much more to be found out regarding their history and any plans for what is to happen to them. This is the third post in my series on derelict buildings and I had far more information in the first two. I’d be interested in any information or leads anyone can provide. But today I felt like posting these photos, which I took a few months ago. So here they are!

 

Not A Face, Not A Crowd: Weekly Photo Challenge – A Face in the Crowd

“Explore the use of anonymity to express both that which is common to all of us and the uniqueness that stands out even when the most obvious parts of us are hidden.”

We stopped on Fleet Street in downtown Kingston to take photos of the striking street murals there. I saw the elderly gentleman making his way from the top of the road…

When he drew level with where I stood with my camera, he stopped and greeted me, saying he recognized me. Was I the lady he sometimes saw on TV? I let him know he was right and confirmed my name. We exchanged a few more words and then he continued on his way….

Weekly Photo Challenge – A Face in the Crowd

Queen Victoria on Parade: Weekly Photo Challenge – Weathered

“This week, show us the effect of time and the elements.”

On East Parade in downtown Kingston, inside St William Grant Park, there is a statue of Queen Victoria.

It’s been in the Park (which used to be called Victoria Park) for nearly 120 years and has weathered somewhat over that time.

It has even lost its left hand….

The statue was unveiled in 1897 as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations; it was a replica of a statue sculpted by Emanuel Edward Geflowski and still bears the inscription: “Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, and Supreme Lady of Jamaica.” The photo below shows the unveiling ceremony.

“Unveiling the Queen’s Statue in Jamaica,” National Library of Jamaica Digital Collection , accessed January 10, 2018, http://nljdigital.nlj.gov.jm/items/show/1724. © Copyright NLJ. All Rights Reserved

They say that the statue shifted on its stone base during the 1907 Earthquake, which you seem to be able to see in this photo.

“Statue of Queen Victoria,” National Library of Jamaica Digital Collection , accessed January 10, 2018, http://nljdigital.nlj.gov.jm/items/show/1725. © Copyright NLJ. All Rights Reserved

A Jamaica Information Service release in the Sunday Gleaner of April 26, 1970 mentioned the story of the statue and the earthquake:

Sunday Gleaner, April 26, 1970,  page 1 -“Sir Alex’s Statue to Replace Queen Victoria’s”

On May 12, 1970, Queen Victoria’s statue was moved from its original position on South Parade to make way for the statue of National Hero Sir Alexander Bustamante.

Gleaner, May 14, 1970, page 1

The statue was later placed in its current location, where it remains to this day.

Weekly Photo Challenge – Weathered

 

 

 

 

 

Standing Guard: Weekly Photo Challenge – Peek

“This week, share a peek of something — a photo that reveals just enough of your subject to get us interested. A tantalizing detail. An unusual perspective.” 

Was the small diamond-shaped window put there to allow him to see out?

It also allows us to see in…

…as he stands guard…

…at the Jamaica War Memorial in National Heroes’ Park in Kingston.

The Cenotaph is in memory of the thousands of Jamaicans who died in World Wars I and II. The Memorial was first erected on Church Street in 1922 to honour those who died in World War 1; in 1953 it was moved to its present location. Soldiers from the Jamaica Defence Force form a ceremonial guard at the Memorial. The epitaph on the monument reads: “In memory of the men who fell in the great war. Their name liveth for evermore.” 

Weekly Photo Challenge – Peek

 

Took Time On National Heroes’ Day To #BigUpJamaica

There is a whole lot about our country that needs radical change and we know it. And still we love this place. Fi Wi Jamaica, the University of Technology’s “national social intervention project which seeks to bring awareness to and, ideally, protection for targeted socially oppressed groups and individuals in Jamaica”, sponsored a Twitter event today, National Heroes’ Day. 

Many individuals and organizations joined in:

I joined in with a series of tweets of my own:

If you want to learn more about the Fi Wi Jamaica project, take a look at their page on Facebook or read a recent press release of theirs, which blogger Emma Lewis shared in a post: Fi Wi Jamaica: Past, Present and Future

 

Downtown Kingston Crossing: Weekly Photo Challenge – Pedestrian

“What does pedestrian mean to you? Perhaps this is a great chance to go out and practice some street photography.”

Downtown Kingston. A man walks across the pedestrian crossing in South Parade. In the background is the landmark Kingston Parish Church, built in 1911 at the site of the original church, which was destroyed in the Great Earthquake of 1907. There is much pedestrian traffic in this part of Kingston, but the history of the area is anything but pedestrian.

Below is a postcard showing some of the damage to the original church after the earthquake. (“Parish Church, Kingston Jamaica after earthquake Jan 14, 1907,” National Library of Jamaica Digital Collection , accessed October 4,2017. http://nljdigital.nlj.gov.jm/items/show/254.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge – Pedestrian