For years we have heard that Reggae Sumfest organiser, Downsound Entertainment (DSE), is close to inking a 30-year lease that will give it the power and security it needs to upgrade Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex, which has become synonymous with the annual music festival.

Indeed on January 2, 2024, this newspaper’s entertainment section had an optimistic Mr Robert Russell, DSE’s now late deputy chairman, expressing hope that the long-awaited lease would be signed soon and work could begin “early in the new year” on a museum dedicated to the work of reggae legend Mr Bob Marley.

The Reggae Museum has been just one of the ideas floated by DSE over the years on how it could improve the 17-acre property if given a chance by its owners, Urban Development Corporation (UDC). As Mr Russell said then, other features include a dock, restaurant, walking trail, and amenities — all part of a plan to “transform Montego Bay into the entertainment capital of the Caribbean”. There has even been talk of building an additional stage, a move expected to make the show’s legendary lengthy band changes less painful for patrons to endure.

But, to date, there has been no indication that the elusive lease has been signed; and the venue remains underdeveloped.

That has not stopped DSE from staging a show that draws a massive crowd every July. As noted last May by Culture Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange, “Reggae Sumfest stands as one of the largest, most powerful, most impactful [shows] — welcoming approximately 11,000 local and another 10,000 international visitors to the event each year, having local economic impact of over $4.3 billion.”

That is why, as they have done since 1993, numerous Montegonians had pinned their hopes on this year’s staging of the show to generate much-needed income. Many who were battered by Hurricane Melissa were counting on Reggae Sumfest to help them recover from the Category 5 storm which slammed into sections of the island last October. However, they were left crestfallen when DSE announced that the 2026 show has been moved to Plantation Cove in St Ann.

Montegonians have taken comfort in the fact that DSE, which said the hurricane-hammered Catherine Hall venue is in no shape to stage a show, has given an assurance that Sumfest will be back home in the western city next year.

We, in this space, urge the UDC and DSE to use the next few months to work out any details needed to bring the Catherine Hall site into the modern age. If a one-week event can generate $4.3 billion — some of which trickles down to the peanut and soup vendors, the property owner with a room to rent, and countless others — imagine what is possible if the venue is available for use all year round.

The economic possibilities are indeed huge as the global music festival industry is regarded as a significant driver of tourism and job creation.

Statista, the online platform that specialises in data gathering and visualisation, projects that the global live music industry events market will climb to US$36.71 billion by 2027. The revenue from that market, we are told, was US$30.14 billion in 2023.

We urge DSE’s executives to brush off their ambitious plans for the reinvention of the Montego Bay venue and for the UDC to move speedily to assess and act on any credible proposals before it — from DSE or any other interested parties. Transforming Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex into a First-World venue is long overdue. Hurricane Melissa may just have provided the perfect opportunity to finally get it done.