JNHT revives Cox plan for Port Royal development

A few minutes before midday on June 7, 1692, a massive earthquake struck the city of Port Royal. A huge tidal wave swallowed up ships in the harbour and destroyed many of the buildings. Most of the city disappeared under the sea. Over 2,000 people died, many of the victims swallowed up by the earth. A rich and thriving town, renowned around the world, was forever changed. On Monday, Jamaica will observe the 318th anniversary of this devastating earthquake.

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT), the agency with responsibility for the protection, preservation and promotion of the nation's material cultural heritage has been working over the years to bring new life to the old city. Most recently, the JNHT revived a plan by noted architect Oliver Cox for the development of historic Port Royal.

On the back of the Jamaican $500 bill is a captivating image of historic Port Royal as illustrated by Cox. This image formed part of Cox's plan for the restoration of Port Royal and, up until recently, he was consulting with the JNHT on how to transform this vision to reality. A talented architect, town planner and gifted artist, Cox died on April 24, 2010 at age 90, leaving behind a wealth of information which the JNHT is intent on pursuing.

Cox, along with his wife and partner Jean, had been associated with the development of renewal plans for the historic town since the 1980s. Executive director of the JNHT Laleta Davis-Mattis, explained that the board of trustees had confidence in Cox's develop-ment plan for the historic town. She noted that the board recently recommended the plan to the Government of Jamaica because of its sustainable approach to the development of Port Royal.

The overall plan envisaged three distinct lines of action: first the protection of selected areas on land and sea for untroubled excavation, investigation and, where possible, exhibition of such historic relics as may be located there; second, the modernisation and where appro-priate, the architectural 'camouflage' of existing buildings, exemplified by the upgrading of the two-storey apartment blocks currently there and third, the reconstruction of a small segment of the town in such a way as to give visitors an impression of what Port Royal might have looked like today if buildings from various stages of its history had survived over the centuries.

Pirate sloop

Cox's proposal has plans too for a 10-foot wide boardwalk with quays; a reconstructed pirate sloop at Chocolate Hole; a museum of piracy; an archaeological centre; an educational centre and recon-struction of Lime Street, among other details.

An Englishman, Cox's associa-tion with Jamaica started in the early 1960s with the planning firm Shankland Cox. During this long association, Oliver and Jean Cox worked on housing projects and studies on proposals for the development of St Ann's Bay in conjunction with the JNHT's Seville property. They also worked on proposals for the development of Oracabessa in tandem with the development of the Goldeneye resort and waterfront development.