JNHT Unveils Winning Design For Shearer Monument

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) has selected Paul Thornbourne’s ‘Tower of Stature’ as the winning design for the monument to be erected in honour of the late Hugh Lawson Shearer.
The monument of the late former Prime Minister and trade unionist is expected to be built for unveiling in July, in time for the fourth anniversary of his death. It will be erected at National Heroes Park.
At the presentation and exhibition of the winning design yesterday (Feb. 13) at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Minister of Health and Environment, Rudyard Spencer said, Mr. Shearer embodied the purpose for which a monument is erected. “We tend to create these monuments to the men and women whom we consider to be icons and who have in some way, helped to define the social, cultural and political landscape of our country. Hugh Shearer was all that in one,” he stated.
“As we continue to show honour to the legacy of this great man, let us view the creation of this monument as the latest means to stir our memories of a man whose courage and love towards Jamaica was unquestioned,” Mr. Spencer added.
Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange, in her remarks, said “it is entirely fitting that we are honouring the Most Hon. Hugh Lawson Shearer in a month where we are celebrating Reggae Month for the first time and also the traditional month for the world celebration of Black History.”
Outlining the selection process, Senator Dr. Oswald Harding, who was one of the judges, informed that the designs were submitted under nom de plume, which means that the judges did not know who the entrants were, “so they were judged purely on merit.”
He said the winning design scored the highest in all categories. “It had a strong design concept, good artistic expression, was most buildable, offered ease of maintenance and was the most complete of all the entries,” he outlined.
The other persons who made up the panel of judges were: George Fyffe of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union; Louise McLeod of the Jamaica Institute of Architects: Carol Watson of the Jamaica Guild of Artists; Gavern Tate and Jordan Brown of the JNHT; and Lise Walter of the Jamaica Institute of Engineers.Mr. Thornbourne, who will oversee the architectural drawings for the monument, said he was humbled that the judges thought so highly of his design and revealed that this was his fourth attempt at trying to get a monument selected.
There were four entrants in the competition with Christopher Whyms-Stone and Robin Baston Architects placing second and third, respectively.
The competition for the design of the Hugh Lawson Shearer monument was first staged by the JNHT in 2006 but was revamped in July last year, after the first set of entries were deemed unsuitable. The second competition, which was advertised in the media in Jamaica, the United Kingdom and North America, ended on the third of September last year.