$11 Million for IDB Rejuvenation Project

Crocodiles are getting a fresh start on life and some engineers intend to do the same for the paint deprived and pot holed, old capital. The Belize City Master Plan is an urban rejuvenation project, which boasts a complete infrastructural facelift for the country’s commercial hub.  The idea is to incorporate existing buildings and open spaces into a grand design that will redefine the image and culture of the city for the next two decades.  It is anticipated that by 2032 an urban development strategy, financed by the government through grant funding from the Inter-American Development Bank, will have been put in place to address the growing need for urban rejuvenation.  A team of architects, urban planners and community-based project development officers is currently on a working visit to the country where they went sightseeing along the streets of downtown Belize City in search of places and spaces in dire need of improvement.

Dr. John Lieu, Professor, National Taiwan University

John Lieu

“We were asked here to evaluate the project at the Government House [House of Culture] and we thought that it was important to tie in the HOC project to the downtown area because there are many important historical buildings in the downtown area.  So if we can connect the HOC to the downtown area it would help to revitalize downtown as well.  So far we’ve seen that there are really important assets including waterfront, the foreshore, the courthouse building, [and] various old private homes.  These are really important assets except that they are in some disrepair and need some work so if there’s a concerted and integrated effort to preserve these old buildings and to get the downtown revitalized I think it would be a great project.”

Shari Williams

Shari Williams, Public Relations Officer, NICH

“As a part of the Belize City Master Plan Project we’re trying to look at ways how the city can become better equipped to manage the affairs of its residents.  They were challenged with two things, finding out what are some of the things wrong with the city and coming up with a development plan for the next twenty years.  As a result they have decided to develop both Albert and Regent Street but it’s not just development for the development’s sake.  It’s development in a way that we need to find out what is really Belize City, to kind of identify the fabric and essence of what our city really is.”

The project for the renewal of the House of Culture and Albert Street is set to cost a little over eleven million dollars.