PRIME Minister P J Patterson has instructed the Urban Development Corporation to ensure that the delay- plagued Civic Centre being constructed in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay, is completed by next month.

He is slated to officially open the $125 million facility on October 6 as part of the activities planned to commemorate Montego Bay’s 21st year as a city.

“Work is now substantially complete. We expect completion by the end of this month and I have told the UDC that they must be ready so that it can be handed over to the St James Parish Council,” Patterson said.

He was speaking at a press briefing in Montego Bay on Tuesday.

Work began on the Civic Centre in early 1999, and should have been completed in the first quarter of the following year. But the project, which is being funded under the San Jose Accord, has missed several completion deadlines. The two most recent were August’s Emancipation Day celebrations and an earlier June date.

The plywood perimeter fence, which had been plastered with posters that transformed it into a major eyesore in the city’s historic square, was removed this week, giving passersby their first full look at the long-awaited centre. The building will house a conference centre, performing arts theatre and a food court. It will also be the site for a museum of artifacts from the parish as well as an art gallery that will display the works of artists based in western Jamaica.

The city’s Chamber of Commerce has also indicated that it would wish to use the venue as the location for its biennial staging of Western Expo.

“I think (once the building is completed, Montego Bay) will be the envy of all the other cities not only in Jamaica but in the Caribbean,” Patterson said.

The Civic Centre replaces the old courthouse that was damaged by fire almost 40 years ago. The upgraded facility has kept the Georgian style of architecture that blends in with other buildings in the square.