Boissierre House- How to Save it?

How do we save these beautiful buildings? This is not a new question. The Heritage Trust Act was passed in Parliament in 1991. So how is it that in 2008 we are still clamouring against the destruction of the nation's rich architectural heritage? Nicholas Laughlin, editor of the Caribbean Review of Books was the first to start this thread. Link to the Save the Boissiere House Website here for more information.

I am going to do a time line as I understand it.

1. National Heritage Trust Act passed in Parliament in 1991 with the intention of preserving houses like the Boissiere House shown below.

Boissiere House popularly known as "The GingerBread House"

This cottage Ajoupa is marked by its green slate, steeply-pitched roof which is the main element. A large dormer gable is the most beautifully decorated with fretwork, the finest remaining example in Trinidad.
p. 251 Ajoupa- Architecture of the Caribbean Trinidad's Heritage

John Newel Lewis

2. A National Heritage Trust Council was established to manage the passage through Cabinet.
Vel Lewis was appointed as the Chairman and Rudylynn Roberts as the secretary. All other members are voted onto the council.

3. The first requirement of the process is the preparation of a dossier. The dossier functions for all intents and purposes as a proposal- it contains the proposed buildings that have been identified for inclusion on the National Heritage List. Each building submitted must be accompanied by the relevant information qualifying its importance to national heritage. This includes information such as architectural style, historical facts and individual specs on the house.

4. After this has been completed, the owners of the properties must be approached in writing to ensure that they are amenable to inclusion on the list, this functions as a notification to list. The owners do not lose any rights to the buidling- ownership is never an issue- the listing simply identifies that the building has historical significance and as such, should be protected by law. Once the property is listed, it enables the owner to access professional advice and there is a plan to put a fund in place to assist with the appropriate maintenance and restoration of the building.
At the moment there are 25 buidlings carded for listing and there has been no objection raised for any of them.

5. The next step is that Cabinet must instruct the Ministry of Legal Affairs to establish the format for this Heritage listing. This includes all the technical and legal procedures that must be adhered to when introducing a listing. This format is the blueprint that would detail the procedures necessary to legally establish a historically potected property.

6. Once this has been completed- the document must go back to the Minister of Culture and Social Development who is then required to re-present the draft to Cabinet for final approval.

7. When this has been done- it is put into the Government Gazette for public perusal. If there are no objections, it is approved and we have our list.

Where are we now?
That is the difficult task. As complicated as unravelling a tight knot is trying to pinpoint where the project has reached in the echelons of bureaucracy.
Suffice to say, this is a new Cabinet and the Minister of Culture seems keen. She is the one who can really put the completed draft before Cabinet.

Why the crisis now? Because yet another landmark building has been adorned with a tiny, home-made sign- For Sale.

Gingerbread Houses, where possible, threw out diagonal galleries with a cupola or steeply-pitched octagonal roofs. At No 12 Queen's Park West these projections are incredibly beautiful and include a whole Chinese pavillion. The fretwork also achieved its ultimate here and the wood is heavily undercut and exaggerated so that the first impression is one of the lacework resembling a woman swirling a lacy dress.

p251 Ajoupa by John Newel Lewis

Original cast iron fencing that is in need of restoration as many areas have been lost.

If we can identify where the proposed list has reached we can then apply pressure to the system to put this house at the top of the priority list.