There’s now more than one reason to buy a V.I. Lottery ticket — along with winning the $175,000 grand prize, locals can also use them as collector’s items.
Standing on the steps of Lille Taarne Gade, V.I. Lottery and St. Thomas Historical Trust representatives unveiled a new set of tickets Thursday featuring the most historical "step streets" on St. Thomas, such as the famous 99 Steps on Government Hill.
"A lot of people don’t know, the reason we have step streets is that back in Danish times, when they sent a map back to Denmark for them to lay out the streets, they did so not knowing there were hills involved," Ronnie Lockhart, president of the St. Thomas Historical Trust, said at the unveiling. "So when it came to make the actual streets, they had to put the steps in instead of streets."
One sheet of tickets has 20 different shots for people to choose from and promotes the St. Thomas Historical Trust’s ongoing "Step Streets Project" to rehab the 45 step streets throughout the island. Lockhart said some of the pictures came from postcards in his own personal collection.
"The step streets are unique to our town — there’s no other city in the world that has so many," Trevor Milner, chair of the trust’s Step Streets Committee. "And they are still in use by many of our residents. Our project looks at a few of those step streets and we’re hoping to fix them up with the community’s help and make them beautiful again since many have fallen into disrepair."
At this time, there are no plans for future collections, but Historical Trust representatives said they would continue to talk to Lottery about the possibility.
To donate or get involved in the step street project, visit http://stthomashistoricaltrust.org/.
