WESTERN BUREAU – A $50-million complex which is being built by the West Jamaica Conference (WJC) of Seventh Day Adventists in Montego Bay should be officially opened next Sunday.

The centre is being built on an acre-and-a-half of land near the Harrison Memorial High School and is an expansion of the WJC’s much-smaller auditorium that was once located on the same spot.

“You don’t have an auditorium here in Montego Bay the size of this one and that is air conditioned. So we are hoping that among the things that this will do is to give Montego Bay a facility where conferences can be convened,” the WJC’s executive secretary Pastor Charles Brevitt told the Observer.

He is excited about the project that got underway in March, saying it is expected to benefit not only the church but the entire Montego Bay community.

“When you’re thinking of a big conference, you don’t have to go to the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston, you can have it right here in Montego Bay (and) it doesn’t have to cost what hotel boardrooms cost,” he said. “Plus, you have parking space, you have the ambiance and the aesthetics that will rightly represent the Adventists’ church.”

The facility is to house two large air conditioned auditoriums with the capacity to hold about 5,000 people at any one time.

In addition, there will be six conference rooms and several board rooms. The already impressive structure, which is now between 70 and 90 per cent complete, is to be complemented by a set of balconies, a studio for audio recordings and a set of male and female bathrooms.

Montego Bay’s tourism players have long lobbied for the building of a conference centre in the western resort city that would help rake in more tourist dollars as the sector takes advantage of the lucrative meetings and incentives market. However, while their efforts have stimulated debate on the issue, no conference centre has been built. The Seventh Day Adventists are moving to take advantage of the gap left.

“We are hoping that entities from abroad can come to Jamaica for conferences. Hotel rooms are available in Montego Bay, a conference centre is available (and) one that is state-of-the-art… We are hoping also that many of our graduations will be held here… that individuals will utilise it for church functions and for community functions,” Brevitt said.

“The facility will be available for rental once the people can satisfy us on three basic counts – the safety of the building (will be preserved)… (that) the kind of programme to be held in there (is not) immoral… and that it is something that will benefit the community.”

The conference facility is now 90 per cent complete and over 100 workers are pushing hard to ensure that the August 8 completion deadline is met.

“What we are undertaking there now is the tiling. The air-condition man should be in there (as well) and the electrical man… We are looking at the partial handing over on August 3 and the final handing over on August 8,” the executive secretary said.

The August 3 date is to coincide with a parade of international chapters of Seventh Day Adventists that will feature exhibitions and preaching, as well as facilitate interaction and the exchange of ideas among those in attendance. The August 8 opening will coincide with the WJC’s 60th anniversary and homecoming celebrations that will be attended by Adventists from across the world.

The facility will also be the venue for the Seventh Day Adventists’ August 18 to 22 conference of lay persons which is geared towards highlighting the work of church members.

It is this conference that gave rise to the idea of building the conference centre in Montego Bay.

Construction began after the funds were secured through a bank loan.