The Virgin Islands Historic Preservation Commission has elected a new chair for 2023/2024, Commissioner Jean-Pierre L. Oriol of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources and State Historic Preservation Officer of the Virgin Islands announced Thursday.
In May, the VIHPC members elected Kurt G. Marsh Jr. as its new chair. Marsh is a member of the VIHPC’s St. Thomas-St. John Historic Preservation Committee and is a professional woodworker, architectural designer, community activist and father. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in fine arts and professional master’s in architecture from the Savannah College of Art & Design.
Marsh is also the owner and principal of design studio MAJJ LLC, and seeks to use the firm as a vehicle to critique socio-cultural constructs regarding identity and culture in a “post-colonial” St. John. He maintains membership with the American Institute of Architects and the National Organization of Minority Architects; is the vice president and co-founder of St.JanCo: The St. John Heritage Collective; is a member on the Virgin Islands Coastal Zone Management Commission-St. John and serves with several other local non-profits, boards, and local government agencies in differing advisory capacities.
For guidance on historic preservation matters, contact the Virgin Islands State Historic Preservation Office on St. Thomas at 340-776-8605 and St. Croix at 340-719-7089 for information and resources relating to applications with the VIHPC.
