MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Leaders in this south-central town are lobbying for adequate spaces for family entertainment, even as there are other major investments in commerce, housing and infrastructure underway in and around the area.

President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce Simone Spence-Johnson, custos of Manchester Garfield Green, and chairman of the Manchester Parish Development Committee Anthony Freckleton told the Jamaica Observer last week that Mandeville lacks sufficient venues and businesses that cater to family entertainment.

Spence-Johnson, in pointing to the US$188-million May Pen to Williamsfield leg of Highway 2000, is hopeful that the project will not only drive easier access to Mandeville, but attract businesses offering family entertainment.

“We definitely need some family entertainment spaces in the parish. I have always been an advocate for bringing back the cinema to Mandeville. I think with the ease of access of entering the parish, we can think about bringing back the theatre here, because it would serve Clarendon as well as St Elizabeth,” she said.

The Odeon Cineplex, a cinema, was closed in the town in 2014.

The business leader is calling for investments in more types of entertainment in Mandeville.

“Other forms of entertainment too, maybe a bowling alley, skating rink, a go kart track… Something that we don’t necessarily have to go outside of Manchester for the family entertainment,” she said.

She added that with construction booming in Mandeville, there needs to be more options for entertainment.

“Yes, we have a lot of property investments, a lot of construction going on and we welcome that, but we also want persons to stay in Manchester, so you don’t have to go outside of Manchester for entertainment. Maybe some new restaurants,” said Spence-Johnson.

Green, a former president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, agreed that there was a need for family entertainment in Mandeville.

“It is something that I have thought of from I was president of the chamber of commerce, and we were pushing for investments in those areas to have [places] where people can go out as families where they feel safe and comfortable, either just to eat or be entertained with clean entertainment,” he said.

“We find that there is a lot of entertainment in Mandeville, but they are usually on the lower end, not family type entertainment and there is very little place for people to go and have a good meal to go relax and sit down as a family. I am not saying there are none. You have [places] in Manchester where you can do that, but we need more options. And if people want to listen to some good music that is missing from Mandeville, they have to go out of Manchester for that type of entertainment,” added Green.

He said the highway will benefit people seeking entertainment outside of Mandeville.

“The highway I think can facilitate the movement of people out of the parish to go and enjoy themselves and come back. It is easy travel for them to do so in a short time, but we need the investments in Manchester,” said Green.

He pointed out that the cinema was closed due to loss in revenue.

“We had a [movie] theatre here that closed, because it was not being supported yet. I know of people who leave from Manchester and go to movies in Kingston, why? I don’t know. Why were they not supporting the movie [theatre] there?” he asked.

Freckleton said it is a matter of economics for investors to determine if it is viable to offer family entertainment in Mandeville.

“… It is going to take a huge investment for any meaningful facility to create entertainment for the entire family, that is one of the challenges investors will face,” he said.

Freckleton said green spaces for outdoor family entertainment in Mandeville are under utilised.

“We lack family entertainment and the problem is —although there is Brooks’ Park, including the horticultural showground [that are] underutilised — we have not been able to successfully maintain them [although] some effort has been made from time to time,” he said.

“We have not been able to sustain any entertainment industry in Manchester because we don’t have the numbers [support] to sustain a proper investment in recreational activities in Manchester,” added Freckleton.

He suggested that there were limitations to the use of Brooks’ Park.

“The Brooks’ Park facility, we allowed housing to be right circling where you have the golf course on one side and on the other side you have housing. I remember in the past a Catholic Church bishop used to complain bitterly when events were staged there, because of the noise and stuff like that,” said Freckleton.

“Yes, we need spaces for family entertainment in our parish, but we have to plan for it and also when we are planning for it, we ensure that there is a buffer between residential areas and the [entertainment] venue,” he added.

Freckleton said there are lands for the development of an entertainment zone including 40 acres of land at Kingsland, a few miles west of the centre of Mandeville.

“We have acres of mined out land all over the parish. Some voices have been crying about that 40-acre property in the Kingsland area that we slated for the justice centre [and] since we are not going to have the justice centre there again maybe we could consider having something like an Emancipation Park setting over there where you can have entertainment for the entire family,” he said.

“There is enough capital in Manchester and with the highway coming to our area soon and the new housing developments taking place this [offering entertainment] is one thing we are going to have to do,” he added.

He said the Kingsland location would be ideal for the entertainment zone.

“Easy access for people from St Elizabeth could work, so it is something we need to factor into the equation not just plazas and apartments, we need to ensure that open spaces and places for family entertainment are planned for. Also in the past we have not been as vigilant in monitoring the subdivisions in our parish to ensure that the lots that we reserved for open spaces for our people are preserved and they are developed to satisfy the demand of the residents,” said Freckleton.

He said that Mandeville has the potential to attract people from St Elizabeth.

“We have St Elizabeth and there are owners of capital down in St Elizabeth too, it is very prosperous, the Junction area, wealthwise. We just need from here on in to develop a culture of planning and a culture of monitoring, so that whatever is planned for is not compromised later on by unplanned development,” said Freckleton.

Green said Mandeville serves as a commercial hub.

“I know right now that Mandeville is very attractive for people from St Elizabeth, Trelawny, St Ann. People come here for businesses, health care, and education. People see Mandeville as a big town and many aspire to be here, so Mandeville means something for the people outside of Mandeville, but do we have what it takes to hold them for them to come back? I don’t think so,” he said.

Green added that Manchester is growing and will need offerings to cater to its population.

“Manchester now has a lot of educated people [and] businesspeople here and people retire here also. We need to be able to provide the type of entertainment to keep them alive that will keep them thinking well for them to be happy and amongst it all be safe and comfortable while enjoying themselves,” said Green.

“Why can’t we have people leaving Kingston, taking the highway, or Clarendon and coming here to enjoy themselves and go back home? Rather than us leaving here to go to Kingston to get something in Kingston and come back, it would be very nice to know that Manchester has businesses or entertainment that attracts people here,” he said.

He added that although it was always said that Mandeville is for the newlywed and nearly dead, change is happening.

“We have a lot of young people now in our main town which is Mandeville. Some come here for education … to study and some of them started businesses and have stayed here. They have moved here from rural parishes for school and they are interested in staying,” he said.

“I am seeing investments, maybe not what we are taking about [entertainment], because Sovereign Mandeville is a huge investment and I think that alone is going to have businesses booming in Manchester. I do expect that, because everywhere they go there is always a lot of activities around the Sovereign Centres,” added Green.