The outgoing chairman of the National Trust, Vel Lewis, who resigned last week, expects “up to a dozen” of T&T’s most historic buildings to be officially listed as legally protected heritage sites by the end of August. Those on the list, the first in T&T to be afforded listed status, include the Magnificent Seven and the Royal Victoria Institute housing the National Museum and Art Gallery. The formal listing of the buildings will provide a blueprint for other historic buildings, which currently number 400, listed in the National Trust’s inventory.
The trust, founded in 1991, has taken 11 years to reach this stage, but following the Attorney General’s approval of the formal process of listing buildings, the remaining stages of the process are, according to Lewis, set to be finished within a matter of weeks.
The 12 official dossiers (the detailed documents required to list a building) are 80 per cent complete, according to Analicia Boyce of the National Trust. Once completed, the dossiers must be signed by Minister of National Diversity and Social Integration Clifton de Coteau, at which point the buildings can be fitted with official plaques. Lewis told the T&T Guardian the plaques have already been designed. But Citizens for Conservation says the National Trust dossiers may not accurately document the buildings.
Citizens for Conservation is an NGO founded in 1979 and consisting of “concerned citizens,” including architects and engineers. Geoffrey MacLean, an executive member of CFC and vice-president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, told the T&T Guardian: “We have expressed concern that the dossiers will be minimal, in that a lot of detailed work is needed to prepare them, including floor plans and historical architectural information, and the dossiers have not been prepared by those with the proper expertise.”
Lewis resigned from the trust after 11 years, he said, in order to “concentrate on a research project on material culture in the Caribbean.” He remains deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of the Arts and Multiculturalism. Asked why it had taken 11 years to reach this pivotal stage, vital in the protection of the country’s finest buildings, Lewis cited a lack of human resources—the trust employs just two full-time staff, and the nine council members meet once a month.
Lewis said: “It’s been a struggle to get the general public to appreciate the need for architecture and heritage preservation. There’s been a lot of back and forth between the Attorney General and the Cabinet. There have been concerns about privately owned houses and how listed status might affect people’s human rights and their enjoyment of their homes.”
Speaking about the trust’s future aims after his departure, scheduled for August 31, he said: “Now the next big task is to encourage private owners and government departments who own the buildings to give us their support and agree to legally protected status [for their properties]. “The National Trust plays an advisory role, it cannot make decisions but simply recommends changes.”
Asked what the National Trust had done under his tenure to further the cause of heritage preservation, Lewis cited heritage tours, public lectures and exhibitions, as well as the biannual Heritage Preservation Awards rewarding owners of historic homes who have carried out special conservation works.
Fail grade for T&T Trust
A report by the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO), which was asked to evaluate T&T’s National Trust in June, concluded: “Following the vote of no confidence in the National Trust Council [in May], the required resignation of its members and chairman seems unavoidable. A new council should be recruited (with those who have stepped down being invited to reapply if they wish) to build a cohesive, multi-talented, exemplary body to lead the trust forward.”
INTO also recommended that the trust appoint a CEO to establish a five-year strategic business plan and urged the Government to “implement financial incentives for heritage conservation—such as tax breaks.” The report was produced by Catherine Leonard, head of the INTO Secretariat.
Preserving historic buildings
The first buildings to receive listed status in T&T, legally protecting them from alteration or demolition, will include:
• The Royal Victoria Institute—housing the National Museum and Art Gallery
• The Magnificent Seven around the Queen’s Park Savannah
• Lion House in Chaguanas—the ancestral home of the Capildeo family
• The Old Public Library—Knox Street, overlooking Woodford Square, Port-of-Spain.
Another 400 historic buildings have been identified as “of interest” by the National Trust and are awaiting assessment for listed status, including:
• The Red House—the seat of Parliament
• Fort San Andres—housing the Museum of the City of Port-of-Spain
• House of Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) 54 Oxford Street, PoS
Listing a building
The process of listing a building was formally agreed by Cabinet in July, 11 years after the founding of the National Trust Council in 2002. The process involves:
• Detailed dossier produced by heritage experts on the building’s architectural and historical significance
• Dossier must be approved by the National Trust council, which must agree to list the building
• Council grades the building (grades 1-4, with 1 being of the highest historical importance)
• Owner is notified of intention to list
• Intention to list is published in the Gazette
• Any objections must be officially raised at this point
• Listed status is approved and signed by Minister of Diversity