Usain Bolt statue to be unveiled in four months
Residents welcome installation but rue demolition of iconic fountain
The long-awaited erection and unveiling of a statue of Jamaican sprint icon Usain Bolt in Water Square, Falmouth, Trelawny, is to be completed within four months, representatives from the municipality have confirmed.
Lavern Morris, superintendent of roads and works at the municipality, gave a breakdown of the progress.
“Work to have the Usain Bolt statue erected is 15 per cent complete ... removal of sections of the fountain and fabrication of steel work is 25 per cent complete. A team of officers from the Urban Development Corporation, Jamaica Defence Force and the Roads and Works Department made a site visit and reports are that the work is on target to finish in four months’ time.”
Mayor Colin Gager commended the pace of work and expressed confidence that the statue would be unveiled on time.
“I am pleased to see how the work is progressing. I feel confident that the whole work will be finished on time so that the statue can be unveiled.”
Plans for the sculpture in Water Square were first announced in 2019 by Sport Minister Olivia Grange.
Bolt, a Trelawny native, is the world record holder for the 100m and 200m and is widely acclaimed as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is highly revered in Falmouth, which is a short distance away from his Sherwood Content hometown.
But some residents are dismayed that the town’s iconic fountain has been demolished to accommodate the statue of the sports legend.
Former Custos Paul Muschett said, “The heritage surrounding Water Square is slowly but surely being diminished. First, the water tank was removed, and now the fountain. There is enough space in the square to put the statue without removing the fountain,” said Muschett.
Ronnie James, a Falmouth native, agrees, noting,” There is a complete change of Water Square as we know it. I suppose they will now name it Usain Bolt Square,” James said.
The water tank was formerly used as a reservoir which was gravity-fed from the Martha Brae River. The water served the citizens of the town and ships which docked in the harbour when the parish had over 80 sugar-producing factories. In the 1950s, the tank was demolished and replaced by the fountain, which is now to be demolished.
Former President of the chamber of commerce, Dennis Seivewright, said the removal of the fountain was unnecessary.
“There is enough space in the square to accommodate both the fountain and the statue. At one time they wanted to put the statue on the pier. I fought against it. They have compromised and now just want to place the statue in the square without any regard for the history.”
But Lorna Thorpe, a physical education teacher at William Knibb High School when Usain Bolt was a student there, is relieved that after all the earlier promises the statue will finally be installed.
“I am happy that the statue will be erected. I am sad that the fountain is removed, but the statue will bring tourists to the town and craft traders will benefit,” Thorpe opined.
Basil Tomlinson, a real estate agent who resides at Hague in the parish, was critical of the general approach to the project’s undertaking.
“The fountain is part of the history of the town. It should be there so that children can relate to the history of the town. No consultation with the citizens was made. You are just told that this is so, and you take it or leave it. It is not right,” Tomlinson expressed.