Hugh Shearer's dream of a new Falmouth resort

Lance Neita, Contributor

FALMOUTH'S FAMOUS Ben' Down Market on a Wednesday now takes second place to the hustle, bustle, and carnival activity generated by the cruise ships berthing at the new Falmouth Waterfront Square.

When the world's largest cruise ship Oasis of the Seas came calling last week Tuesday, it was met by thousands who crammed the streets, verandahs, rooftops, and any available space to get a look at the mega liner. The Jamaican welcome was warmly appreciated by the thousands of passengers who lined the decks mounted 16 storeys high to wave and to return the greetings.

It was good to be in Falmouth that morning. The square outdid itself with music, banners, shops, a bandstand, courteous police and guides, coconut carts, fruits, carvings, T-shirts, paintings, mento bands, clowns on stilts, and Bob Marley's One Love thumping a heavy beat in the background. It was a colourful spectacle unveiled at seven in the morning to give visitors an unforgettable welcome to Jamaica.

By the time the passengers were ready to wander out into the town there were as many Jamaicans in the square as there were tourists coming off the 6,000-passenger luxury vessel.

promenade

The streets were crowded with schoolchildren, grandmothers, families, and walkabouts like me who were caught up in the promenade. And as the busloads of Jamaican tourists came in, the busloads of tourists were going out - vehicle after vehicle earmarked for Martha Brae, Outameni, Dunn's River, Chukka Cove, and other attractions.

Someone has a sense of humour, as the first point-of-interest building that greets the passengers as they exit from the pier is the Collector of Taxes office with its imposing sign facing them squarely on Seaboard Street.

The organisers deserve an A+ for the arrangements. And the walking tours guide map published for free distribution is a first-class brochure that can match any of its type in the travel industry.

Falmouth has a celebrity history, and there is much to show. It was a boom town during the 17th and 18th centuries, thanks to at least 80 sugar factories around town, and a bustling port which once accommodated 30 ships in one day. It boasted piped water before New York and other major cities, and had a well-trod horse-racing track which attracted punters from around the world.

The city tour includes architectural gems such as the courthouse, the Baptist Manse, the William Knibb Church, the Barrett houses, and Water Square.

Fierce wars were fought in the Cockpit hills above Falmouth with the first Maroon peace treaty signed by Cudjoe and the British Government in 1739. The Trelawny Maroons were at it again in the second Maroon war which broke out in 1795, and which ended with over 500 maroons shipped off to Halifax in Canada, later migrating to Sierra Leone. No doubt that some of their descendants may return as vacationers on board Royal Caribbean's latest flagship.

tourism development

Among the many well executed legends describing Falmouth's heritage, I am still searching for some mention of former Prime Minister Hugh Shearer, a hometown boy whose dream of a major tourism development embracing Falmouth is now being realised.

On May 10, 1968 he had broken ground for the New Falmouth Resort project which envisioned upscale hotels, villas, beaches, apartments, and an international village complex representing countries and cultures as diverse as Jamaica, Japan, England, France, Switzerland, India, and Africa.

Each would have native restaurants, gift shops, markets and entertainment, creating a facility for visitors to take a trip around the world by going from one village to the other. Rafting on the Martha Brae and the Swamp Safari attraction was introduced under Shearer's watch. The resort project slowed, but hopes were reawakened with the opening of the Trelawny Beach Hotel on April 19, 1974.

The dream is still there, and now it's taking shape with the historic opening of the new pier. As much as we give maximum credit to the conceptualisers and designers of the present project, there should be a prominent place reserved somewhere for the name Hugh Shearer, the boy who was known as 'Son Lindo' from Martha Brae.

Lance Neita is a public relations and communications consultant. Comments to columns@gleanerjm.com or lanceneita@hotmail.com.