THINGS THAT MATTER - Glendairy Prison’s extraordinary potential

 

The celebration of the decommissioning of Glendairy Prison on Saturday last (October 29th) has captured the imagination of the media, and the tours given to visitors have created widespread interest and curiosity. Glendairy has five major buildings on a walled 14-acre site. Potential for redevelopment and adaptive re-use is great. This can be done by private developers at no cost to government, for the enjoyment of locals and visitors.
 
So let’s go back to the beginning. Glendairy was opened in 1854, served for 151 years and was damaged by fire on March 29th and 30th, 2005. Contrary to popular reports and belief, it was NOT destroyed. Portions of buildings were gutted – the central entrance block to the magnificent male prison, a male block near the female prison (one fifth of that complex), the kitchen, bakery and mess hall – in all less than 10 % of the buildings. Most of the massive male block, with its beautiful arcaded West façade – 72 arches on three floors – was undamaged, and with the long spooky corridors in the enormous East wing and the gigantic stairs and courtyard, it’s precisely the kind of spectacle that impresses and fascinates visitors to prison museums. Other parts of the prison would need repairs and air conditioning for displays and other uses.
 
Some five years ago the Barbados National Trust established a “Sentinel Committee” to look out for important historic buildings that were abandoned or in danger of being lost. With Glendairy’s closure, it joined the Trust’s list of concerns. I organised a series of visits with senior prison officers and National Trust officials, and some other interested persons, including visiting preservation experts, engineers and architects, Cabinet ministers, senators and tourism officials. Various possibilities for re-use were discussed, including conversion to hotel accommodation, condominia, culture complex, prison museum, entertainment centre, workshops or mixed use, as in other historic prisons.
 
I visited a number of prison museums in Britain. Four of the best known, that I visited and studied, are Bodmin Jail in Cornwall, The Clink on the South Bank in London (a 13th century prison, which gave its name to being in jail or in the clink), the Tower of London, and Kilmainam Jail in Dublin. These are just four of the 100 plus prison museums around the world. 
I then wrote a report for the National Trust, which has been submitted to the relevant authorities – the Attorney General, the Superintendent of HMP Dodds, the Ministry of Tourism, BTMI, BTPA, BTII, and others. The conclusion of the study and the report, which has been given wide verbal but informal support, was the recommendation for Glendairy to be put out to tender to a private developer, for mixed use as a combined Prison Museum and Entertainment Centre. 
 
The major reason for rejecting other ideas such as development into a hotel or condominia or other living accommodation is the enormous cost of such adaptations, which would need mammoth structural work to the highest standards at very high cost. A prison museum requires only modest structural work and expense, while varied entertainment projects can be provided with modest investment.
 
Prison Museums around the world attract huge numbers of visitors. There are some 40 in the USA and 25 in Britain at the last count. The famous Reading Gaol (Jail) (“Home” for some years of the famous author and playwright Oscar Wilde) opened  for tours just a few weeks ago. Of course, the Tower of London, Alcatraz in California, Sing Sing in New York and Robben’s Island in South Africa, where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated, are among the most famous. When I visited Dublin’s Kilmainam jail two summers ago, I queued for forty minutes, because it attracts 1 000 visitors a day, and 350 000 a year! In fact prison museums are almost always the most popular visitor attractions in any city!
 
The National Trust’s project proposal details some of the possibilities for a developer at Glendairy. They include: The Male block as the main museum building, with the ghoulish atmosphere, the dramatic architecture including the gutted front entrance, and especially the Gallows room, as major attractions. Guided tours would include “ghost tours” and night tours, where the ghoulish element is especially appealing and hugely successful with young people. And as Eric Smith wrote on Friday, it’s the stories of characters and mystery that enthral everyone.
 
A major fascination of many prison museums, especially for children, are tableaux featuring dramatic scenes with mannequins of criminals committing heinous crimes – i.e. dramatic scenes depicting real criminal stories in appropriate settings - from vicious murder to bestiality.
 
Comprehensive displays in a proper museum setting can include illustration of punishments such as the notorious floggings with the cat-o-nine tails, lists of bathing times, prison rules, diet in the old days (literally bread and water in the distant past!), notorious prisoners, famous escapes, mysteries, ghost stories, convict employment and hard labour, History of crime and punishment in Barbados, from earliest colonial settlement to modern times, e.g. life size models of the rack (several types) and the equipment for “drawing and quartering” – morbidly fascinating everywhere they are displayed! A broader history of crime and punishment around the world, displays of the 1816 rebellion, the 1876 Confederation Riots, the 1937 “Riots”; displays of Nazi concentration camp history; of other, world-wide torture methods; the story of the redlegs; a model of a guillotine; tableaux and stories of notorious local criminals, e.g. Winston Hall.
 
Other buildings can provide Conference Rooms, a Micro-Brewery, restaurants, pubs, bars, Food Court and Shops. The shopping component can include souvenir, gift, book, heritage, toy and craft shops and specialised boutiques.
 
Other features could include a Prisoner Art gallery as well as other art galleries / shops, Cinema / Theatre, Office Space, Conference facilities, Furniture making / expansion of Dodds prison workshop – with HUGE export and economic potential, Availability for use as film sets, photo-shoots, wedding receptions, Halloween events, social functions, Crop Over displays, et cetera, and even use by UWI for aspects of their Criminology unit, research and education.
 
The extensive grounds can be gardens for pleasure and for well-equipped Children’s playgrounds. We have limited fully equipped playgrounds for children compared with developed countries and this could be the answer for supervised holiday camps. Facilities could include slides, trampoline, swings and other attractions, perhaps a wading pool, a supervised swimming pool, perhaps an aviary and a small animal reserve or “petting” place for sheep and rabbits for example, for children to see real live animals which town children rarely see! In Britain such facilities at visitor sites provide for annual membership of families and are a very viable economic operation. Inclusion of a crèche and child supervision facility would ensure its success.
 
Additionally, in the grounds, there can be set up replicas of several types of ancient “stocks”, which were in wide use as punishment in Barbados in the 17th and 18th century – for as minor offences as failure to attend church on Sundays! These models are universally fascinating, used to photograph children and families momentarily “in the stocks”, with heads stuck through the holes, with bodies in prison uniforms painted on to the front of the structure –  hugely popular wherever they exist!
 
This would be the first Prison Museum in the region, would add immeasurably to our visitor attractions and “Brand Barbados”, and provide huge educational and economic opportunities. Possibilities for creative entertainment around an ancient, mysterious, fascinating and perhaps ghoulish prison are endless. Outlay on restoration will be relatively modest as all of the site doesn’t have to be returned to pristine condition … much remains as “romantic ruin”. It would greatly embellish the UNESCO World Heritage site Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison and create wide-ranging “ripple effects” of all kinds, including involvement of the local community at all levels.
 
It is suggested that through Invest Barbados or BTII, in collaboration with BTPA, tenders be invited for a long lease “pepper corn” arrangement to develop and manage the site as a private investment opportunity. It will be a win-win, as there would be no cost to government.
 
Professor Fraser is past Dean of Medical Sciences, UWI and Professor Emeritus of Medicine. Website: profhenryfraser.com

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