WILL DOWNTOWN KINGSTON really be revived as a centre of commercial activity, and in the near future at that? Yes, it can. Can ole-time Kingston come back again? Not overnight. It is not easy for ole time sinting to return just so. It takes time and effort. Ask me, though, if we can build on the old to create a new dimension and I’ll say, Yes. If that is what we’re going for Downtown, then I’m ready to applaud, even before full success comes.

We need to remind ourselves that hundreds of people live in the streets and lanes of Downtown. We might not see them behind the pretty-pretty façades of the new beginnings, but they are there — individuals and families living in post 1907 buildings, long ago turned into crowded tenements. Aged wood and brick reflect the pre-concrete and steel era. Full time for the old structures to go, if for no other reason than they are not safe. It is a wonder that there have not been more fires.

We can fantasise about the sturdiness and hardiness of the inner-city dwellers, but there is nothing romantic about their environment. Sanitary facilities are still inadequate. There is far too much “gutter water” still running from inadequate sewage disposal. Garbage collection is sporadic at best. There is even less recreational space for the numerous children playing in the street. Drive down a lane and chances are you will have to wait or brake suddenly to avoid a determined “baller” moving forward to complete the pass and score between two condensed milk cans and three pieces of brick.

Some tender souls will be horrified to see the week’s laundry being done on the sidewalk and the washing put to dry on the zinc fence forming the boundary between one yard and the next. There are “good people” among us who sympathise, but cringe, at the thought of venturing into even one of those streets or lanes. As far as they are concerned, Downtown is synonymous with walking a tight rope across a lake of fire.

It is full time we come to know that the people are no worse than some of the sheep in wolves’ clothing who inhabit Uptown. People respond to decency and kindness like they do anywhere, and there’s more of it in Downtown than we realise. I don’t feel that I have to be rewarded for going there. When I lived Downtown, it bore no stigma. Homes and streets were well kept. People cared for and respected each other. Nobody put a tag on it — except an elderly aunt of mine from the depths of Hanover who declared the city “Kill-some”. She eventually died there, but it wasn’t the city streets that did it. It was old age, which had followed her from Country.

So back now to this Downtown revival. On Tuesday, I visited the new GraceKennedy Financial Centre which had been opened the day before. Two elderly buildings which once stood at the corner of Duke and Harbour Streets have been fused into one, given a serious facelift and brought up-to-date to create an attractive facility. I especially like the whimsy of the patterns created in the concrete sidewalk on the Harbour Street side. Very modern and cutting edge, but not intrusive.

THE GRACE EMPIRE has every reason to show off because they can boast 90 years tenure Downtown. Their headquarters came into being with the establishment of the company on Valentine’s Day 1922 and the firm has kept a running love affair with the city since then, remaining steadfast through bad times and good. Number 64 Harbour Street, their headquarters from the beginning, has been modernised over time to become a real city landmark.

Grace’s pride and joy is their Foundation, which builds bridges of understanding, not walls of exclusion for the surrounding communities. Emphasis is on education and mentoring of young people. The remarkable thing is that it is funded in part by members of staff, who not only contribute directly from their pay packets, but give time in mentoring and coaching at homework centres to bring the youth up to speed.

Significantly, three scholarships for high schoolers to move to tertiary level have just been announced, as part of the 90th anniversary.

Further along Harbour Street, heading east towards the lower end of South Camp Road, the ICD Group (Matalon) buildings create an impressive facelift for their end of the street. Their MultiCare Foundation is youth focused with several initiatives to assist a new generation through education and a healthy lifestyle. Much emphasis is placed in the schools and other community groups. A “mini-stadium” is available for sporting events and other community outreach.

DOWNTOWN KEEPS MANY SECRETS, among them the venerable Institute of Jamaica (site of Jamaica’s first university and the site of Mary Seacole’s home (Date Hall) and the National Library, next door. A common address — 10-16 East Street — keeps together these repositories of artefacts and historic memorabilia which turn the key to the past and guide the present to unlock the future. It is to be hoped that in the Big Dream for a new Downtown resources will be found to ensure the continuity of these keepers of the nation’s history, including the Junior Centre across the street.

I’M ALL FOR THE SPIRIT of revival. It cannot only be for commerce and industry, however. Heaven forbid that the people who live Downtown are ever seen as an intrusion; to be shipped out as soon as possible so that we can get on with business. So far, no one has been insensitive enough to express such heresy, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen. Doubt me? Check the Harlem story and what it took to create the spectacular success which everyone raves over today. We want our piece of the action too, but hopefully nobody should have to wander in the wilderness because of it.

PS: One of the best kept Downtown secrets is the tremendous work of the city churches. Some have been there for a century or more. Many are famous for their music ministry – East Queen Street Baptist, Coke Chapel, Kingston Parish Church and the Scots Kirk, on lower Duke Street. An imposing building with flagstone floors, a high balcony stands as a reminder of the unenlightened past, when “lesser folk” sat upstairs. (Guess why?) Until you experience the Scots Kirk Singphony, a blend of voices, instruments and the Word, imaginatively presented, you won’t know what ole-time people meant by “A pleasant Sunday afternoon”. Get to know it for yourself.

EPILOGUE: “Motty” has left the studio. The mic is off. His audience accords him a hero’s farewell. What would you say, if I told you, that in a time long ago and far away, we were friends and he tried to teach me to play chess? Of course, he won. I still believe his bark was more than his bite. He knew the rating value of controversy. Walk good, Missa Perkins. From yours truly, “the Substantial Miss Gloodan” as you used to say.

OH THE SADNESS of the cruel death of Edgar Gallimore. It is incomprehensible. I won’t even indulge in the speculation of what might be behind such cold-hearted nastiness. All we can do is remember one who was always doing things for others, always on the move, always positive. What a wicked waste!

gloudonb@yahoo.com