The large barriers in the Savannah opposite President's House were a surprising enough sight to provoke serious discussion about what was being built there.The project, as it turns out, is an important one, the construction of WASA's fifth well to tap the massive aquifer that the Savannah offers to Port of Spain, but the alarm is justified.The Queen's Park Savannah was sold under very eco-friendly conditions to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago in 1817, the Illustrious Cabildo, by the Peschier family.
It wasn't until 1946 that four acres were leased to the Turf Club and the first major structure was built on this remarkable green space, the Grand Stand, the home of horse racing.Since then, the Savannah's verdant innocence has been lost by inches. A road here, a pumping station there, a track over there with some permanent lighting.
It's arguable that the recreation needs of the city have evolved since the land was first sold into State care, but the challenges of holding onto its value as both a green space and the metaphorical lungs of the city have continued into this century.Compared to the sustained incursions occasioned by Carnival under the directives of the NCC, the other body that has the right to build in the Savannah, the construction of a single well structure might seem like a small thing.
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