Hours after he ordered the demolition of the historic Greyfriars Church of Scotland, owner Alfred Galy agreed to stay his hand. But not before a demolition crew smashed its way through the northern wall of the Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain landmark. Despite yesterday’s bad weather, workers of Joel Ramdeen and Company, working with an excavator, started demolition around 5 am. By 8 am, the manse (church hall) was reduced to rubble, and the northern wall of the church was taken down.
Joshua Lu, who had been circulating a petition calling for the preservation of the site as a historic building, alerted officials from Citizens for Conservation who rushed to the scene to prevent further demolition work. Lu said he often drove into the capital on a weekend to check the site and ensure no demolition work was being done. Conservation activists and concerned citizens started to flock to the churchyard, as news of the demolition spread.
In an attempt to stop the excavator operator from knocking down the remaining church walls, Lu entered the building and stood inside the church, even as the owner of the excavator ordered the operator to continue the demolition.
Lu was later joined by Dr Nurah-Rosalie Cordner, adviser to Minister of National Diversity and Social Integration Rodger Samuel, who jumped onto the excavator and appealed to the operator to stop destroying the country’s heritage. As four workmen attempted to forcibly remove her, Cordner’s hijab (head covering) was pulled off by and her purse was ripped open, leaving her personal belongings scattered among the debris.
Blinking away tears, executive secretary of Citizens for Conservation, Michele Celestine said yesterday’s action caught everyone unawares. “Mr Galy continues to disrespect the process, although we have been in discussions with him all week and for the past two weeks trying to come up with a city plan where he can construct a building as he says he wants to do, and we would get to keep our historic church.”
Celestine said it was disappointing to witness the destruction of a building which was centuries old. “The notice of intention to list this property as a historic site has been served on Mr Galy over three weeks now.” Galy had expressed an interest in purchasing adjacent properties to construct offices, she said. Chairman of the Council of the National Trust Professor Winston Suite said Galy had acted in a “dishonest and disrespectful” manner.
“Like a thief in the night, he has moved in to destroy the building and hoping by the time people wake up Monday morning, everything would be done and it would be a fait accompli.” Suite was joined by his wife, attorney Lynette Seebarran-Suite and Deputy Principal of the University of the West Indies, Professor Rhoda Reddock, who were outraged over the demolition. Officials of the non-profit organisation Citizens for Conservation were also on site.
Standing in the rain as he surveyed the scene in disbelief, Samuel said: “They just don’t have respect for this country—absolutely no respect—because we have been negotiating, the Town and Country Division up to Thursday was negotiating with this gentleman in good faith trying to help him work around it. “And this is what happens, like a thief in the night.” Samuel said no demolition approvals were granted by the Port-of-Spain City Corporation. He said he would remain on the site until the excavator was removed.
WAY FORWARD
Up to yesterday evening, Galy was expected to sit with officials to discuss the way forward. Those meetings are expected to include Samuel, officials of the Council of the National Trust, and representatives from the Town and Country Planning Division.