An Open Letter to the National Trust, The Willie Redhead Foundation, Sandra Ferguson and everyone else who is concerned about the “built heritage” of Grenada. We are very pleased to see with what close attention the proceedings on the Ballast Ground site are being followed to ensure that what is done does not in the process damage any of our treasured artifacts. One wonders therefore why the following did not receive equal attention. The reduction of the Mount Helicon house to rubble just a few weeks ago Do people know that the foundations of this fine building are one of the oldest private homes in Grenada and may have been the residence of the French Administrator at the time? The construction of that abomination on Church Street in front of the Anglican Cathedral. Oh, yes, the construction was stopped and the upper storey removed because sight of the Town Clock from Market Square was obscured. A worthy action but did not the entire design warrant strong action? This is especially unfortunate as Church St. can boast the largest number of buildings still in their original style in St. George's and also houses three examples of “sedan porches” which I believe are now found nowhere else in the world. Why did none of you write to the paper when the Anglican Church decided to erect a completely new and ugly modern box next to the Cathedral but left the beautiful Manse building to continue to decay? Does no one care that Karl Hudson-Phillips has purchased the lovely house in large grounds immediately after the Anglican Cathedral, containing what appears to be a coach house on the property and is doing nothing to restore it? Far from this, he is letting the house be lived in by squatters which is hastening it's demise. What about that awful building placed right in the middle of historic Young Street immediately opposite the new Courts building? Since there were no letters from you in the paper, you must like it. What about the building it replaced, had that no value? Don't get us started on the Museum. What about the hideous building that was erected on the Carenage two buildings down from the Phoenix cigarette factory. The one with the big plate glass windows and the horrible green, yellow and blue tiles on the façade. Is this with the look we want on the Carenage? Having seen the above happening without a murmur, we can only hope that the architect of the new building to be constructed on Church Street where the British High Commission used to be is more sensitive than the architects of the buildings above or else Church Street is doomed. We hope that someone will be vetting the plans before approval is given and that it is not the same people who approved of the buildings above. We could go on, but we think you get the picture. Along with your criticism of the changes that have sometimes, with very good reason, been made, it would be fair if there was also comment on and commendation of the small numbers of owners and developers who have actually made an effort to take into account the prevailing Georgian architecture when building or remodeling their properties. Oh, yes, there were two, short letters to the paper doing just this for both the new Hubbards building on the Carenage and renovation of the GTM building on Church Street, both of which were very sensitively done. Why not the rest? Why then did no one mention the Zublin designed and built new mall on Melville Street, just at the exit of the tunnel? Obviously a great deal of time, energy and money has gone in to the designing and finishing of this building. They have also had lovely planting done and made a small plaza, also with landscaping, which is the closest thing to a park that St. George's has. Didn't anyone notice the loving, and no doubt expensive, restoration of the house just after the Anglican school on Church Street? They even restored the garden both on the Church Street side and on the Carenage side of the property. What about the ongoing restoration of Equity House on the same street after it was badly damaged by Hurricane Ivan? They could have quickly and more cheaply replaced the clay tiles with metal sheeting like almost all of the other owners in St. George's but they chose to rebuild it as it should be. What about the new RBTT building on Cross Street? While building a structure that must serve it's specialized, modern function, they have still managed to maintain, on the upper floors, the typical Georgian style including the lovely canopies over the windows. These have retained their traditional shape and size but been given a modern twist by being rendered in high tech stainless steel mesh. Finally, many years ago the Grenada Development Bank restored their building on Melville Street. We remember the ugly craft centre that was there before? Does anyone else? Again, we could go on, but we think you get the picture. So now we come to the new buildings at Ballast Ground. Do you really think that the mounds of metal rubbish piled in the Ross scrap yard and that fenced compound with the turtle shells hanging outside was better than what is now being done there? The chattel houses, referred to with such disdain, are beautiful replicas of the old Caribbean vernacular architecture and a refreshing respite for the eye from the rest of the modern, unimaginative boxes on the Lagoon Road. We all should care about maintaining the architectural magic of St. George's but would like to see consistent, fair judgements and pronouncements because this is necessary in order to preserve Grenada's uniqueness in the Caribbean and therefore in the world It is something we should all be proud of and it is why the visitors keep coming. Sincerely Victoria Slinger - President, Grenada Arts Council Members of the Grenada Arts Council Via email P.S.: You have obviously never visited the Berlin Wall. I have and it looked nothing like that attractive wall that is being built where the scrap heap and turtle shell wall used to be but “chaque un son gout”.