Carmichael’s silver lining

Carmichael’s silver lining

New community park set to open

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – It is not only the newest but one of the biggest, most modern community parks in the south and it’s set to open this Saturday with fanfare fitting for a beautiful, green space.

With its opening Silver Gates Community Park will be in a league of its own featuring an array of amenities not normally seen outside gated neighborhoods in New Providence.

For sure, it has all the customary features one would expect – basketball and tennis courts, restroom facility and the brightly colored children’s play area made from recyclable material.

However, the 2.3-acre park also features built-in exercise equipment, wrap around tree benches, high-grade walking trails, a gazebo, a blue hole inspired floor work created by the celebrity artist Jamaal Rolle and Wi-Fi that is free to the public.

Perhaps, what might be most impressive to some is the thought and planning which went into making the area wheelchair accessible, from the parking lot to the walking trails.

A mighty infrastructural investment spearheaded by the Member of Parliament for Carmichael, Works Minister Desmond Bannister said he was not about to leave the safety-readiness of the community’s new watering hole to chance.

The premises come under the watchful eyes of 22 around the clock surveillance cameras providing live and archived video footage. The surveillance monitoring system is linked to the Carmichael Road Police Station.

The park’s opening this weekend will make good on a 20-year-old promise made to residents by successive parliamentary representatives.

“When I campaigned in Silver Gates two years ago, every home I went to told me they had been promised a park for the last 20 years and nobody had delivered for them. The community organization had this lot which was overgrown but they weren’t able to do very much with it,” Mr Bannister explained in a pre-opening inspection Thursday afternoon.

“We approached the Bahamas Striping Group and they enthusiastically embraced the project. The got right to work. I can’t believe it’s been less than four months now and this whole area has been transformed  with a wonderful, well-designed park.”

For the parliamentarian, the infrastructure is critical to community and family togetherness. He envisions the park becoming a meeting place.

In fact, Silver Gates’ community association has already begun planning gatherings to be held under the pavilion.

As for the park’s upkeep going forward the works minister has been in contact with key government departments to prevent maintenance from falling-off once the park has opened.

“I’ve spoken to beaches and parks [The Bahamas Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority] about maintenance, to do what they do. I also have a personal commitment to this park and the wonderful thing about Silver Gates is the community pulls together. We are going to make sure that it is maintained,” said Mr Bannister.

The project was developed by property investment company, Attilio Holdings, a subsidiary of the Bahamas Striping Group (BSGC).

“This is a great space and we were happy to come onboard and really make great use out of it. We believe Bahamians deserve the best and that includes the best in recreation,” said BSGC President, Atario Mitchell .

“We would love to see more constituents encourage their representative to create even more open, green spaces. It’s something that is lacking in many neighborhoods. As a nation, that’s to our detriment. We are very limited when it comes to beautiful public spaces where we can meet, connect or just chill and grill with our neighbors. Park provides a means of bringing together people who are typically separated.”

To bring the project to fruition, Attilio looked to its stable of proven and trusted sub-contractors. Those small and medium-sized enterprises included True Green Landscaping; Carib Construction; Ding Fencing; Kemp’s Creations; architectural design firm, iNKD Limited; Terrain Design; surveying company, Riviera Associates and K.W. Paving.

The latter upgraded the roads leading into the park. Sidewalks were installed by New Breed Construction.

For this project, Attilio forged new working relationships with Futuristic Landscaping, ATI Electronics, Flameless Electric and BTC.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Hubert Minnis is expected to officially open the park this Saturday at 6pm.