FALMOUTH, Trelawny — CUSTOS of Trelawny Paul Muschett has expressed concerns over the refusal of some builders to comply with stipulations regarding the Georgian architecture in the heritage town of Falmouth.

“Many of us who care about Falmouth’s heritage have become very concerned with the many structures that have been torn down to facilitate modern buildings with no character or not in keeping with the Heritage Trust’s guidelines. [The guidelines] sometimes hinder some, [but we] are here to preserve the historical integrity of the town of Falmouth,” Muschett stated.

“If you drive down Duke Street or Cornwall Street you can see many examples of the changing face of architecture in Falmouth and I dare say — not for the better.”

The Trelawny custos was speaking at the opening of the renovated Trelawny parish office of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security — a Georgian building — in Falmouth last week.

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT), in 1997, proclaimed sections of Falmouth a heritage district in an effort to regulate and preserve the Georgian town.

As a result, no infrastructure development, large-scale or domestic, should take place in those areas without the heritage watchdog’s approval. Additionally, all developments must conform to the Georgian theme.

But the preservation of the town’s predominantly Georgian-styled buildings is oftentimes viewed, by developers and owners of buildings alike, as a retrograde step.

Last year, former Member of Parliament for North Trelawny Wendell ‘Bull Bull’ Stewart called on the Trelawny Parish Council and other stakeholders to undertake an initiative, in an effort to educate owners of buildings in Falmouth, about the stipulations laid down by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT), aimed at preserving the historic town’s Georgian architecture.

He was speaking during a Wine and Cheese mingle, staged at the historic Falmouth pier by the Falmouth Heritage Renewal in an effort to raise funds to assist in improving buildings in Falmouth.

“The parish council needs to decipher a misunderstanding. They (residents) need to understand what they are protecting, so that they can better buy into the idea, and I think that is where the breakdown is. They (stakeholders) have not been able to win the landowners in Falmouth because it is not being sold properly,” Stewart stated at the time.

He explained, for instance, that homeowners should be informed that they are only required to maintain Georgian-styled architecture to the front of their buildings, as opposed to the false notion held by many that the entire structure should be of Georgian architecture.

In the meantime, Falmouth is one of several heritage sites across the island, which will benefit from close to one billion dollars from the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), as the drive to develop and preserve the country’s heritage sites, landmarks and cultural products continues.

According to a JIS story, Executive Director of the TEF, Clyde Harrison, explained that the roughly $900 million undertaking in Falmouth, involves the development of Hampden Wharf, estimated to cost $585 million, and the Falmouth Streetscape Improvement Project that is budgeted for $330 million.

The scope of work includes aesthetic and structural improvement to roads and lanes in the vicinity of Water Square in the town.

Harrison added that the Hampden Wharf development project would see historical buildings in the vicinity of the wharf being converted for commercial use, with walkways built, allowing smoother traffic flow from the wharf through the current cruise ship pier into the streets.

Meanwhile, Muschett argued at last week’s opening ceremony of the Trelawny parish office of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security that major economic spin-offs can be derived from heritage tourism, as a direct result of preserving Falmouth’s Georgian design.

“The cruise ship port was built here because Falmouth offered a unique town with a district of what is supposed to be the largest collection of Georgian buildings in Jamaica, if not the West Indies. It is important for heritage tourism to maintain these structures in their original form so that our tourism product may be developed,” he explained.

He lauded Prime Minister Portia Simpson’s vision to invest in the building that houses the parish office of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour during the time when she had portfolio responsibility for that ministry.

Meanwhile, Mayor of Falmouth Councillor Garth Wilkinson, Trelawny members of Parliament Patrick Atkinson and Marissa Dalrymple Philibert have welcomed the opening of the renovated structure. The upgrade work was carried out at a cost of approximately $100 million.