Watson Taylor Park Beach Facility to be Renovated

The Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) is partnering with the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and Friends of Watson Taylor Park to restore the beach facility to its glory days.

Corporation Chairman and Mayor of Lucea, Councillor Sheridan Samuels, told JIS News that the facility, which is a significant motif on the Lucea landscape, is among 12 beaches and parks islandwide earmarked for upgrading under TEF’s Beach Development Programme.

“We (HMC) are impressed with the interest the ‘Friends of Watson Taylor Park’ have shown and the work they have carried out on the grounds there,” Mayor Samuels stated.

He added that “we expect that this partnership will bear fruit as, already, persons here and abroad are registering their support for plans to make the park a place of pride for the people of Lucea and the wider Hanover community”.

Councillor Samuels said the Corporation was also pleased with the TEF’s announcement that the beach park will benefit from its development programme.

This, he pointed out, would further bolster hope for the park’s restoration as Hanover’s prestigious sports and entertainment venue.

TEF Executive Director, Dr. Carey Wallace, confirmed that the park is on the schedule of projects under the beach development programme, and is set to go through the procurement and community consultation processes. .

Under the programme, major infrastructural improvements are carried out to facilitate a welcoming environment for beach users.

With the improvements, the beach will remain free for public access and will include commercial stalls, sewerage, and other amenities for ease of access to the beach and its surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, Friends of Watson Taylor Park, a group of influential residents of Lucea and others residing outside of the parish and overseas, has stepped forward to spearhead preliminary renovation of the football field and its periphery spaces.

In November 2021, the organisation presented a proposal to the HMC, outlining plans to undertake landscaping and general upkeep of the park.

The scope of projected work includes the removal of shrubs from sections of the beach, and installation of recreational facilities and lights.

According to spokesperson, Denise Hudson, the organisation is taking steps to be registered as a non-profit, charitable society.

This, she pointed out “will legitimise the organisation as well as enable [the group] to attract grants and other funding from local and international organisations”.

Ms. Hudson further told JIS News that the group wanted to go beyond nostalgia, to “taking practical steps to recreate the park we once knew”.

“Families would go there and enjoy their Sunday dinner or go there for fairs and other such events on weekends and public holidays. Initially, we will seek to keep the football field trimmed and plant some hedges and flowers to beautify the grounds,” she stated.

Watson Taylor Park, which is situated at Bayliss Bay, is Hanover’s first public playing field. It was officially opened for public use on November 19, 1960.

It was named after Arthur Wellesley Watson-Taylor who donated the land to the Parish Council in 1929 for the citizens of Hanover.

Then, one of the premier recreational facilities outside Kingston, the park boasted a playing field outfitted with slides, pull up bars and swings for the children.

Other amenities included benches, a lawn tennis court, a spectators’ pavilion, groundskeeper’s quarters, and changing rooms.

The Friends of Watson Taylor Park also plan to erect a monument in Arthur Wellesley Watson Taylor’s memory.