AS THE NATION responds with dismay to the outbreak of criminal activity in Spanish Town, there is equal cause for concern at another negative turn in the life of that community. In an age of heritage tourism, when travellers demand an eclectic range of attractions to give "flavour" to their vacations, it is puzzling why we have not been able to tap into the history of Spanish Town, to give added value to our tourism product and restore pride to the community.
Lest we forget, the legacy of Spanish Town is a rich and textured one. Established as the island's first capital in 1534, a position accorded it until 1872, it became the location of some of the island's most important structures. It is recorded that its main civic buildings were erected at the height of the plantation era, its splendid Georgian Square being built on the plaza real of the Villa de la Vega. Here met the House of Assembly, the Courts of Justice and other institutions.
The Cathedral of St. Jago de la Vega, the first Anglican Cathedral outside of England (circa 1843), is a noted landmark. The Spanish Town Courthouse, built 1819, was an historic building too until gutted by fire in 1997. The ruins stand today, with no discernible plan of action for their restoration, a symbol of bureaucratic tunnel vision and a culture of neglect.
The Square itself, another symbol of contemporary indecision and points-scoring by successive parochial administrations, is the site of the Old Kings House, the Old House of Assembly, the Archives and the Rodney Memorial, the latter famed not only for the personage whom it honours, but for the eminence of the artist, John Bacon (1740-99) one of England's most acclaimed sculptors. Then there is the iron bridge, on the outskirts of the town, said to have been the first prefabricated cast iron bridge in the Americas, the only one of its kind surviving in the world.
All this and more are part of Spanish Town's legacy and yet not enough is being done to ensure their preservation for perpetuity and to reap some benefit by sharing their history with others.
The economic benefits to be gained from heritage tourism are obvious, but malaise, lack of imagination and divisive politics have served to condemn what should have been a world heritage site to a scene of neglect and decay. Would that it had been possible to excite the imagination of the people of a new generation to understand the love exhibited for Spanish Town and the hopes held for it by the likes of Canon B.C. Jones, T.O.B. Goldson, members of the Jeffrey-Smith family and more recently, Derrick Roberts, to name but a few of those who went to their graves believing that Spanish Town's true potential could be actualised.
Instead, today their beloved community is beset and besieged by young thugs who seem more bent on destroying than building and a nation which seems to care little for what is being lost.
As to the Government, the excuse why the Spanish Town heritage has not been developed will be "no money," but here is one example of how money sensitively and creatively spent could bring sure returns. Poor Spanish Town!
