fp Turks and Caicos

After a successful fundraiser on March 20 at Regent Palms, Providenciales will soon have a place to display its history as the Turks & Caicos National Museum builds a museum at Grace Bay Village.

“Tonight, we held our first major fundraiser on Provo, and we unveiled plans for a new museum,” said museum Director Neal Hitch. “Over 300 people attended the event at one of the nicest resorts on Provo. From every account, it was a spectacular success.”

According to organizer Jacquine Giarratano, who volunteered to coordinate the charity event for the museum, the objectives of the fundraiser were to raise awareness and funds through sponsorships and pledges.

The COBO Event, as organizers dubbed it, included a silent auction, local artists’ art sale, raffles, a fun photo booth by Christine Morden of My Paradise Photography, and a limited edition historical photo sale donated to the museum by Brenda Ludington and Jimmy McCollum. Cultural Director David Bowen also presented a special cultural show through traditional dance and music.

The highlight of the evening was the unveiling of the architectural drawings and model of the new museum designed by John Thomson and Jeff Lee from Lee and Astwood Architects.

Hitch is optimistic about the expansion plan, judging by progress at the Guinep House Museum in Grand Turk in recent years.
“In less than two and a half years, we have increased attendance at the Grand Turk museum by 250 percent,” he said. “We have trained the best guides on the island. We have increased museum income by over 300 percent. We have created viable programs that have raised the profile of the museum.

“We have had commercial property donated for the museum on Provo. We have had a new facility designed. And now we have engaged the population with the message that now is the time to build on Provo.”

Since opening in 1991, the museum has sponsored and collaborated on a wide variety of projects, both on land and under water. Among those most notable are the Molasses Reef shipwreck and Trouvadore archeological discoveries.

The museum also has collections that include stamps, coins, photographs and the Grethe Seim Message in a Bottle collection. Most recently the Brooke and Maria Fox collection from Fort St. George was donated, adding significantly to the museum’s cultural history holdings.

Trustees of the new museum in Provo hope to build on this success, as well as bringing in much of the history of development of Providenciales.