ST JAMES, Jamaica — The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) is currently finalising plans for a state-of-the-art beach park to be developed at Closed Harbour Beach in St James.

The 16-acre property, known as “Dump-up” Beach, has been earmarked for transformation into a world class multi-zoned public space within two years, at a projected cost of $700 million Dollars.

The beach will be the starting point of a public coastal park to include the Old Hospital Park, and Gun Point Beach.

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Montego Bay to engage citizens in the development process, Winston Dear, UDC Board Director and Chairperson of the Montego Bay Advisory Committee (MAC) assured citizens that the space, when developed, would be free access to the public.

“It is this type of a stress-free environment that will generate the opportunity for the society to become more peaceful,” Dear said, alluding to data which indicate that such conditions can lead to significant reduction in crime.

The park will feature a jogging trail, soft and hard landscaping, an outdoor amphitheatre, multipurpose courts, a children’s play area, food kiosks; jogging trail, a boardwalk among other

Lucan Robinson, architect at the UDC, who presented the design concepts said “What we are aiming to do is to enhance what is there now and add to it things that would further make it of benefit to the people of Montego Bay.”

Highlighting some of the unconventional features of the design, such as the amphitheatre, which will integrate with the landscape, Robinson said it lends itself to people coming in at any time of the day to relax and look out to sea.

“Imagine that Montego Bay may very well have its own fireworks on January 1st with wonderful vantage points from the park,” he added.

The project has received the endorsement of the St James Municipal Corporation and works are scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2017/18 with completion projected for February 2019.

The park construction will be carried out in tandem with the Montego Bay Waterfront Rehabilitation Project, a separate project aimed at repairing the groynes protecting the Closed Harbour, AquaSol and Gun Point Beaches. The repair of the groynes will be partly funded by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (5Cs) through the KfW Development Bank.