The Civic, Heritage, and Business Quarter
-
Parliament Square
This will be a showpiece civic assembly, celebration and memorial venue for many of the major annual and special events on the calendar of Montserrat. This major public open space will provide a spectacular viewing platform over the Town’s centre green recreational grounds.
The space will be a beautifully articulated public space framed by a quality set of colonnaded public buildings that create a townscape setting representative of the civic heart of Montserrat. The people’s place and international setting for outdoor night and day major public gatherings, ceremonies, events and VIP cricket viewing platform.
-
Heritage Park
The restoration and interpretation of the Emerald Isles unique Irish sugar plantation history will present a living museum experience that will rapidly establish itself as a major island tourism attraction. The re-creation of the 18th century Manor House, terraces and associated formal gardens creating will artifact assemblage that demonstrates an exceedingly elegant standard of living – surprising for the time and place. This will contrast with the boiling, curing and cattle mill features which will be interpreted to re-create the productive aspects of the life during these historic times that will capture in a sustainable way some of the roots of today’s and future Montserratian generations.
-
Business Courtyard
Financial, social and banking institutions grouped to compose an impressive urban atrium and ‘bee-hive’ for business gatherings. Additionally, it is foreseen that the MDC will have headquarters here and potentially join forces with the Montserrat Tourism Board to create a joint Tourism and Trade visitor and market promotion centre that will feature a lively calendar of annual events.
The Cultural Cluster
- Cultural Centre is at the core and catalyst to a constellation of popular and cultural activity venues. Developed under the auspices of the Sir George Martin Trust its’ pedigree speaks for itself in the global music fraternity.
- Performing Arts Centre – it is anticipated that an internationally affiliated creative academic establishment will be attracted to pioneer and develop Montserrat’s theatre, dance, drama, music and media talents.
- Festival Village – the renaissance of the hearts and minds meeting ground – the place to celebrate the fun and vital¬ity of Montserrat.
- Market Place – complimenting the existing market place it is foreseen that in the longer-term there will be a need for a larger, more traditional wet produce market that will be the sales outlet for the enhanced fishing fleet catch that the Piper’s Pond development will stimulate.
The Boulevard and Quality Street
This pedestrian retail, cafe, boutique and small enterprise corridor of Little Bay, linking the foreshore promenade and beach with the cultural, civic and business centre of the town via Quality Street skirting the southern boundary of the Centre Green recreational ground. The Boulevard defines the central axis of the overall township and is foreseen as a linear concentration of small up-market retailing outlets, businesses and highly desirable downtown residential apartments.
Running parallel to the Boulevard, along its north-eastern flank, is the main commercial avenue of Little Bay. This will be where larger floor-space consuming activities that require direct access for larger delivery vehicles and shoppers alike will be developed. Pedestrian footpath links, at regular intervals will laterally link the commercial avenue with the Boulevard and provide additional longer-stay car parking in close proximity to the Boulevard and for special events taking place at Centre Green.
The Centre Green [multi-purpose recreational area].
This is the heart and soul of the township. A pool of verdant green to, on the one hand, calm the spirit and emotions and, on the other be the performance platform for the youth of Montserrat to recreate, meet and on special calendar fixture dates, compete with other island teams as well as teams form the region and further a field.
Housing
A wide variety of housing typologies will be developed at Little Bay creating a living and working town that will have a day and night vibrancy generated by its own diverse mix of resident and transient population. The terraced mixed-development of the Boulevard and Quality Street will provide the downtown small but chic apartments for those that want to live in the heart of things.
Hillside condominium village clusters and up-market villa developments will be the quality real estate that will overlook and frame the town centre and the Pipers Pond developments. An extensive broad arc of residential development will provide a sweeping back-drop to Little Bay, spanning from the baseline of Davy Hill, encompassing Cathedral Square and passing behind the Cultural Quarter and Heritage Park to the foot slope of Benito Hill, as well as snaking up the valley walls of the hinterland. This will provide the most extensive area of residential development that will provide opportunities for a wide range of residential tenure, price and quality of life-styles.