A historic preservation organization long hoping to redevelop crumbling buildings in Christiansted got one step closer to a 50-year lease in a Senate hearing Friday.
The Virgin Islands Architecture Center for Built Heritage and Crafts, known as VIAC, had been working out of two buildings on Hospital Street on one-year leases. The longer lease would allow for significant redevelopment of the Old Barracks buildings, said Mary O’Reilly Dema, VIAC’s board chair.
The organization’s goal is to create a historic preservation, architectural and building arts center that will research, teach, and present the traditions unique to the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean. Dema told the Senate’s Committee on Budget, Appropriations, and Finance that VIAC’s reach would extend far beyond Christiansted, influencing cultural understanding and promotion throughout the territory.
Dema said VIAC is a collaboration of architects, historians, cultural and community activists from the Virgin Islands and Denmark in the aftermath of the Centennial Commemoration of the Transfer of the islands from Denmark to the United States in 1917.
“VIAC’s proposal to rehabilitate a historical property into an educational center that will train and educate young people and impact the built heritage by preparing skilled artisans to rehabilitate it, while simultaneously creating a cultural economic development corridor in the town of Christiansted aligns with these recommendations and will be an important step towards the future. It can be an important contributor to the St. Croix National Heritage Area as that initiative grows and develops,” she said.
With a focus on the Virgin Islands’ African Danish historic architectural aesthetic, VIAC wants to create a pipeline to degree programs and certifications in association with schools in Puerto Rico, the United States, Ghana, and Denmark, she said. As it develops, VIAC wants to offer degrees and certifications in building crafts such as metalwork, painting, carpentry, cabinet making, masonry and draftsmanship.
“We believe that the transformation of the Old Barracks Property on Hospital Street, Christiansted into an educational center for the historic preservation, architectural and building arts of the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean will be a catalyst for the evolution of the town of Christiansted. We hope that the center will become an anchor property for a culture and arts economic development corridor which will provide opportunities for workforce development and training, small business development and cultural heritage tourism,” Dema said. “We hope to offer classes in the history and culture of the Virgin Islands and in small business development and entrepreneurship. VIAC wants to research and teach sustainable and resilient building methodologies that address climate change, particularly the issues that face the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean.”
The project needs an estimated $10 million more to reach its goals, she said.
Challenges from the refinery closure, the 2017 hurricanes, and the COVID pandemic have made things more difficult, Dema said.
The committee approved the lease and passed it on to the Rules Committee for further consideration.
“If we use the history of the Barracks Complex to tell the story of the people who lived and worked in the structure, the street, the neighboring communities, the town, the island and the territory, we will create authentic cultural heritage tourism in which many people can participate and grow and thrive in. There is interest in our architectural legacy as many of our structures have withstood extreme climate events for centuries. We have an opportunity to partner with institutions to increase the resiliency of our towns and maybe even an example for other communities,” she said.
