Editorial | The defacement of Devon House

There are some positives to be eked out of the assault on the Devon House courtyard by the governors of the property in breach of their duty of care to the property’s history and of its value to the well-being of Jamaicans, especially those who live in the capital.

The first good is the great public outrage over the courtyard’s ‘degreening’ and the strip mall-style tiling of the area. People’s anger at what has so far been done might give the culprits pause, causing them to think carefully before there is any further defacement of Devon House.

Second, things could have been worse. Thankfully, they did not start the ‘renovation’ on either the northern or western lawns. The grass may have been uprooted and old trees chopped down to be replaced with interlocking paving stones and vine-covered trestles.

Devon House has historic and sentimental value for Jamaicans. It was built in 1881 by George Stiebel, reputed to be the island’s first black millionaire, on the lands of the old Anglican rectory. Mr Stiebel, who made his fortune mining in Latin America, purchased the property from the church.

Devon House has been owned by the Government since the 1960s. It is now a national heritage site and a public place of recreation, with craft-themed stores and restaurants.

MORE THAN AESTHETICS

However, the Devon House issue is about more than aesthetics. There is something profound in the distress. While it may not be articulated exactly this way, the emotion embraces the fear of something deeply important to a society’s well-being being diminished or irretrievably lost. It is of green spaces in the context of recreation.

Kingston and St Andrew are in the midst of a relative building boom. Higher allowable densities and a seemingly gung-ho disregard for restrictive covenants by some developers have led to the rapid construction of multistorey apartment and townhouse complexes across the municipality. Old neighbourhoods of sprawling bungalows and manicured lawns are in retreat, overtaken and replaced by the new high-rises. There are no compensatory green spaces. Suburban folks increasingly feel hemmed in.

For many city dwellers, Devon House, like Emancipation Park and Hope Gardens, offered respite – an oasis of escape from the concrete drabness of their communities, and, for too many, the cramped spaces of their existence. They also feel safe.

Indeed, should anyone care to really observe, they would note the demographic mix of the people who use Devon House and the capital’s other available, developed, and secure parks.

Parents and children gambol or relax on lawns. In quiet corners, students sometimes study. People, including brides and grooms and their wedding parties, take pictures.

There is great value in these things. In addition to an individual’s psychological well-being, they contribute to social cohesion – and the cementing of families. And to a lessening of friction, which contributes to a reduction in antisocial behaviour and, therefore, of crime.

BAFFLING

In that context – of Devon House as a soft, lush, and relatively intimate place of recreation – it is baffling that the Tourism Enhancement Fund, sanctioned by those who, purportedly, are obliged to protect the facility, would spend over $70 million on a project, supposedly undertaken in the interest of the people who use the place. Yet no one asked these people what they wanted. If they were asked, it was in muted tones. No one heard.

In any event, those questions must be clear and stark and the ensuing discussion full and frank. They should have explored matters such as the relative merits of grass and concrete in, say, photosynthesis, and their impact on the environment.

Further, the Devon House matter also retrains attention on the use of Jamaica’s land and the inefficient allocation of this limited resource.

The Government, for instance, continues with its plan to build a city on Jamaica’s “most fertile … A1 soil” at Bernard Lodge, St Catherine, rather than leaving it for agriculture. Instead, it should concentrate on urban renewal.

The Government is also moving forward with the plan to construct a new parliament building at the National Heroes Park rather than developing the area as green space for recreation.

Hopefully, the public outcry will cause the Devon House honchos to calibrate and otherwise cause officialdom to seriously consider the value of green spaces for recreation.

Indeed, as we have argued previously, recreation, in the appropriate environment, also provides an opportunity for recreation. Which also spells upliftment and transformation.