As we told you last night, the new public building at the corner of Queen and North Front Streets, on the property called Ground Zero will NOT be named after Thomas Paslow.
But what will it be named? Well, now,, you can decide that. As we told you lats night, there will be a public competition to name the new building to be constructed under the Downtown Rejuvenation Project.
After the UBAD Educational Foundation and The Image Factory raised an uproar over the project invoking Thomas Paslow's name just to name the site - it was announced today that there will be a competition, quote, "to name the location once occupied by the Paslow Building".
The project's community liaison officer told us that they knew from early that the Paslow name was a no-go after an online poll earlier this year resoundingly rejected that option:...
Albert Avila
"Of course the name Paslow is like a lightning rod. Now we put that out there and everybody has something to say about it and that's what exactly happened this week and last week. So we just want the public to know that the name is going to be changed and how we are going to do is we are going to put it back out there in the public domain through a competition. Actually we already posted it out. So people can start to submit their names as of today. We are going to get all these names, we are going to put a committee together and we are going to shortlist the names. They are going to decide what the name is going to be and to make it more transparent, to get the public more involved in the decision making, we are going to put in on an online poll, where everybody can go and they can see the names and they can choose which one they like the best and whichever one is the best, the person who submitted it will receive $800. Second place will be $600 and third place will be $400."
Reporter
"What will be the composition of that selection committee in terms of will it be a cross section of people with perspective wide enough to entertain a non-traditional name? Will that group have that broadness of perspective or will it just be people who work for the government - people who like the UDP, that sort of thing?"
Albert Avila
"We haven't finalize who will be on that committee, but it will definitely be a cross section of people that are involved in history, people that are involved in going out there and talking to the media and all of that. So that group of people has to be decided on and we haven't done that yet, but it will definitely be a wide cross section of people to get inputs from various areas of the country."
Reporter
"You may have those who is say history is not really a popular thing and Mr. Paslow, historically he may have legacy as a slave owner and as a slave abuser maybe repugnant, but history tells us that in that famous town meeting he played a very important role amongst those who choose to stay. So the name Thomas Paslow has a historical significance which can't be erased. Is this a hard thing you have to juggle with when you're dealing with the prickly issue of Belize's colonial legacy?"
Albert Avila
"Our mandate is preservation of our heritage and that heritage is linked to our colonialism past and it's hard to really separate yourself from that to try and preserve it without going back into it or bringing up the name. I think at some point in time we have to try and understand that this is legacy and it's not that our project or the ministry or the government we are trying to glorify colonialism, but it will be forever linked to our heritage and our legacy."
So, here's how you can submit your proposed name - either bye email or postal service.
Send an email to albert.avila@belizetourism.gov.bz with the Proposed Site Name, along with a short text explaining the merits of that name. Or you can mail your submission to 106 South Street, in Belize City,. IF more than one persons select the same winning name, the one who submitted first will get the prize. And, again, those prizes are, for 1st: $800.00, for second: $600.00 and for third place, $400.00.
The Belize City House of Culture and Downtown Rejuvenation Project is currently working on five structures and eight sites in Belize City.
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