Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett announced that the House Committee on Natural Resources advanced H.R. 8121, legislation to designate the Christiansted Bandstand as the “Peter G. Thurland, Sr., Bandstand.” Today’s markup follows a hearing held by the House Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Federals Lands on July 1. Congresswoman Plaskett issued the following statement:
“This is meaningful progress to ensure that the contributions of Peter Gregory Thurland, Sr. to the Virgin Islands are never forgotten. The Christiansted Bandstand stands today because of his hands and vision.
Renaming the Bandstand in his honor ensures that every person who walks past it, and every musician who ever plays on it, will know whose legacy they are standing on.
“Mr. Thurland was a master craftsman, a bandleader, a mentor, and a U.S. Navy veteran. I thank my colleagues on the House Natural Resources Committee for unanimously advancing this bill. This legislation was first championed by Congressman Ron de Lugo in the 103rd Congress, and I am proud to continue this effort to have Peter G. Thurland, Sr.’s name take its rightful place on a landmark he helped create.
“The bill must now be considered on the floor of the House of Representatives before proceeding to the U.S. Senate, and ultimately the President’s desk for signature.”
H.R. 8121 honors the life and legacy of Peter Gregory Thurland, Sr., born in 1892 in Christiansted, St. Croix. On March 31, 1917, Mr. Thurland played with the Christiansted Industrial Brass Band at the transfer ceremony on the Christiansted Wharf. Just a few years after the transfer of the Virgin Islands from Denmark to the United States, Mr. Thurland joined the U.S. Navy Band, and helped build the very bandstand where he would later perform for decades.
In 1938, Mr. Thurland founded the St. Croix Community Band, an institution that has trained generations of local musicians. Through free monthly concerts, the band has given the Christiansted waterfront its enduring soundtrack.
The legislation designates the bandstand located at the Christiansted National Historic Site in St. Croix as the “Peter G. Thurland, Sr., Bandstand” and directs that any reference to the bandstand in federal law, regulation, or documentation be treated as a reference to its new name.
