Willie Redhead Foundation founder optimistic about future

by Curlan Campbell

• tWRF founded in 1994, celebrates 3 decades of advocacy
• Foundation in talks with Grenada National Trust (GNT) to merge into single entity
• Funds for York House restoration estimated at EC$5.26 million

As The Willie Redhead Foundation (tWRF) celebrates its 30th anniversary, a significant milestone, the not-for-profit organisation’s last surviving founding member, Norris Mitchell, reflects on the past 3 decades.

Returning to Grenada and seeing the declining status of its built heritage, Mitchell, an architect, was inspired by Willie Redhead’s articles published in The Grenadian Voice that advocated for the preservation of historic St George’s. In 1994, Mitchell founded tWRF with stalwarts media icon Leslie Pierre — who founded the weekly newspaper The Grenadian Voice in 1961 — and broadcasting engineer Raymond “Ray” Smith OBE. The articles prompted Mitchell to name the foundation after Redhead in his honour.

“I refer to [Willie Redhead] as a Renaissance man. He was active in so many ways in serving Grenada,” Mitchell said. “One of his significant contributions was his articles, which he published every week, during the latter part of his life. He used to produce an article on a certain aspect of the town in The Grenadian Voice and that is how I came up with the name of Willie Redhead to continue the work in my way, of what he started.”

The foundation has also embarked on various projects, such as restoring Simmon’s Alley, replacing street signs in St George’s, conducting a survey of historic buildings in St George’s, producing a brief documentary on the island’s historic water wheels, and repairing the hospital steps and walkway. But what was described as his “pet project” that has not yet been realised is the restoration of York House. Built in the 1780s as the family residence of Jean de Ponthieu, York House was a striking example of ornate Georgian architecture and over the years served not only as the parliament building, but was used for public meetings, concerts, and state events before being severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

Mitchell is disheartened over the lack of attention to the restoration of York House despite the foundation’s advocacy. “It would appear that succeeding governments have not shown any interest in the restoration of York House and we see the result of that today,” Mitchell said. “York House is just a shell and if we have another heavy wind and rain, that shell might just be knocked down. Hopefully, that won’t happen and we will see the light with this current administration to restore this historic structure in the capital city of St George’s.”

At present, tWRF is seeking the help of Grenadians at home and in the diaspora to raise funds for its restoration, estimated at EC$5.26 million (US$2 million). Mitchell emphasised that there is still much work to be done to address the rapid decline of the historical architecture in the Town of St George. The town was once admired by The Georgian Society of England in their 1930 journal, and in 1988, CARIMOS, the Cultural Arm of the Organisation of American States, (OAS) described the town as “a monument of the wider Caribbean.”

“A report done by the Caribbean Development Bank further confirms the significance of the economic value of the city of St George’s. At that time, they estimated that the repairs to York House and the town itself would be insignificant and in the case of York House, I think they identified that it would cost less than a million dollars. So that recommendation by the CDB obviously was not taken to heart by the government. But as far as The Willie Redhead Foundation can identify, there is a nucleus of the remains of still a historic town and we should try to some extent to preserve it,” he explained.

To strengthen its membership, the foundation is currently in talks with the Grenada National Trust (GNT) to merge into one entity. The merger is quite likely and, if completed, will result in a name change to reflect the merger.

“With a combination of the 2 bodies, which in fact have the same mandate, one officially and the other unofficially, we hope that we can see more and greater things in the future. There will be a name change; we haven’t decided yet. We are looking at the legal implications of coming together and what we should do to put the new body into operation and out of that we will derive a name to match,” he said.

Mitchell, born in Guyana to Grenadian parents, graduated in architecture from the University of North London and received a certificate in Urban Planning from the University of Rome. He became a Chartered Architect in 1963 and worked in various countries, including Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Canada, and Nigeria, before founding Norris Mitchell Associates in 1970.