Architectural drawings by Danish students of two abandoned, historic V.I. government buildings for a revitalization project called “In Search of Identity” were released Tuesday at the Economic Development Authority conference room at Nisky Center, St. Thomas, with videoconferencing between Denmark and St. Croix.
Drawings can be viewed at www.in-search-of-identity.org, a website in development. On Wednesday, the Committee on Culture, Historic Preservation, Youth and Recreation, chaired by Sen. Myron Jackson, will consider legislation regarding the project.
The project facilitated by Jackson involves rehabilitating and repurposing the J. Antonio Jarvis Elementary School Complex in Charlotte Amalie and the old Christiansted Barracks in downtown Christiansted for educational and cultural tourism purposes, according to Jackson’s office. The Battery on St. John will also be included.
About 30 students from the Royal Academy of the Fine Arts School of Architecture and the Aarhus School of Architecture of Denmark spent three weeks in February and March this year in the territory donating their time to measure and draw the sites, which are slated to become a National Museum and School of Conservation of the Arts on St. Croix and a School of Architecture on St. Thomas.
The initiative is a partnership with the Kingdom of Denmark and Owners of Historic Houses BYFO (Buefoe), a private preservation organization. It is endorsed by the 2017 Virgin Islands Transfer Centennial Commission.
Jackson believes the project has many benefits to the territory are many, including a vocational school to train craftsmen so future generations will be ready to take care of V.I. historic buildings. The vision includes an idea for a national museum with exhibits covering the Native American era through the colonial era to the modern day.
