New building houses Roe Group of Companies
With the exception of ancient Mayan temples and the even more scarce wooden houses of the colonial era, there are few buildings in Belize worth noting for their distinctive architecture. But if you’ve driven down Coney Drive over the last year you would have seen an impressive new edifice rising from the North Side lowlands. News Five’s Janelle Chanona stopped by for a closer look.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
At six stories high, Gordon House is one of the tallest buildings to grace what passes for the Belize City skyline. The first pile for the structure was driven in on November fourteenth 2005, and on August first, the building will officially open for business.
Adrian Roe, Executive, Roe Group of Companies
“Well we designed it around our needs for the insurance company and then we figured we needed two floors to help us pay for it, to rent.” [Chuckles]
According to Adrian Roe, the first and second floors house RFG Insurance, UNICEF occupies the third floor, and while the fourth is still available, G.A. Roe and Sons Holding Company sits on the fifth. And though the offices below have excellent views of the city, the roof level boasts the perfect panorama of the old capital.
The building was named in honor of Adrian’s father, Gordon.
Adrian Roe
“Daddy came to Belize in ’44 with the Royal Airforce and he met my mother the day he arrived at the New Year’s Eve dance at the Pickwick Club and he stayed. He got married, had five sons, and worked with the Belize Estate Company up until 1963 and he went on his own then and it’s been hard work and dedication and we’ve come a long way.”
“It states a presence, we are here forever. It’s a tribute to my dad, it’s a footprint. We have a lot of confidence in what’s happening in this country, in the future, we hope that things will work out. … We’re from Belize, we’re Belizeans and we are working for Belize and everything we do is here.”
Each floor spans five thousand square feet and the available space will be customized to the renter’s needs. Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
Gordon House was designed and constructed by Structure Architects Limited. Elements of Belmopan completed the mahogany furnishings. We would be remiss if we did not mention another new architecturally pleasing building in Belize City, that is the headquarters of the Insurance Corporation of Belize on Daly Street.
