Freeport News Reporter
Preparing to move into phase two of the "Downtown Turnaround" initiative undertaken by the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), officials say that once all phases are completed, businesses in the area would be better positioned to benefit for better times. GBPA En-vironmental Manager Nikira Wilchcombe said phase two is expected to begin as early as February of next year, moving into the core of the downtown area – City Market parking lot, Churchill Square and Bank Lane.
Before the project began, Wilchcombe explained that a survey was conducted on some of the things that the stakeholders would have liked to see in the area in terms of improvement to the general aesthetics.
She said the project seeks to bring about a transformation making downtown more appealing to the community. Since the project began back in April, Wilchcombe said they have already conducted a vagrancy study with the College of the Bahamas to find out the contributing factors of vagrancy in the area.
They have also paved Woodstock Road and placed handicap accessible sidewalks on Explorer's Way.
"We will continue to add some curbing and trees," she said. "Then we also had some building owners commit to painting their buildings before the end of the year."
By December 2010, Wilchcombe said it is hoped that the area can be opened for entertainment purposes to make it more festive and appealing for people, where residents would want to come to the city's centre.
"We hope that at the end of the day you can see increased commerce and productivity in the downtown area and a level of compensation that this is someplace that you want to be," Wilchcombe said.
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