Dear Editor,
In 1973 a building was constructed by the Government of Guyana to house the West End Youth Cultural Centre (later known as the East End Gym) on Hope Street, South Cummingsburg, just behind the Customs and Excise Department. This building still stands today but it is in a deplorable state and it is being misused. The West End Youth Cultural Centre was built to provide a place for recreation and learning for the young people of the Cummingsburg area especially for the youths of Tiger Bay. And for those who don’t know and those who can’t remember, the West End Centre had a very talented football team, a cricket team, talented table tennis players and strong boxers. The residents of Tiger Bay and surrounding areas had a club to call their own and were very proud of it.
The West End Youth Cultural Centre provided the young people with an opportunity to develop their cultural talent and to learn a skill. I can still remember the many concerts that were held at the centre showcasing the talent of the Tiger Bay youth and others from South and North Cummingburg, many persons were taught to cook at the cooking classes that were held at the centre and many others were taught to make craft. In 1975 a street fair was held on Hope Street and the work of the youth of Tiger Bay and surrounding areas was put on display.
The West End Centre Boxing Gym was the training ground for many of our country’s world class boxers, such as Lennox Blackmoore, Vernon Lewis, Lennox Beckles, Patrick Forde and Kenny Bristol to name a few. It is however sad today that the building which today holds many proud memories for so many people is not being used for the purpose it was originally built for, a section of the building is rented out as an office for a customs broker and another section is used as a dwelling place.
I really don’t know who has responsibility for this building now but I remember that the city council was at one time responsible for the building, what I do know is that the land and building belongs to the people of Guyana and I would like to see either the city council or the government through the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport take possession of this building and reconstruct a community centre for the benefit of the residents of the Cummingsburg area. By investing in a community centre for sports in this area maybe we can save lots of young people from following the wrong path of life. I wish to urge persons who would have benefitted from the West End Youth Cultural Centre to rally to the call for its reconstruction and resuscitation.
Yours faithfully,
Clive Fredericks
