March 3, 2004 – While some buildings at Sunday Market Square have already been spiffed up, the square's heart is about to get a major face-lift thanks to a Federal Highway Administration grant administered by the Public Works Department.
The contract to rebuild the square was awarded Monday to Tip Top Construction of St. Croix. The company has one year to complete the work.
Roger Dewey, who heads the St. Croix Foundation, said that the project calls for the unusually wide road to be narrowed by making the sidewalks wider, paving the sidewalks with bricks and covering the street with cobblestones. The remains of an historic well in front of the Times Square Bar will be rebuilt, and the sidewalks will be lined with mature mahogany trees. The U.S. Forest Service donated the trees, while staff from the Agriculture Department's Urban and Community Forestry program will plant them.
Additionally, utility lines will be buried and sewer and water pipes replaced.
Dewey said he could not say how much the project would cost. Lt. Gov. Vargrave Richards did not return a phone call requesting information, and no one answered the phone at the office of Public Works Commissioner Wayne Callwood.
Dewey noted that rehabilitating the square is key to helping St. Croix get on economically firm footing. "It's the first thing anyone sees when they come into Christiansted," Dewey said.
According to Dewey, the project is a collaborative effort by Public Works, the Foundation, the governor's office, and the Highway Administration. Dewey says Richards helped to spearhead efforts.
The project was designed by St. Croix architect William Taylor, who donated his services. His design aims to restore the area's historic charm.
Sunday Market Square, also called Times Square, historically served as a meeting place for free black residents and slaves. "It was a center of commerce," Dewey said.
Work to restore the dilapidated area dates back to the mid-1990s when the St. Croix Foundation acquired seven buildings at the square from the bankrupt Tri-Island Economic Development Commission. The Foundation has rehabilitated two buildings with work on a third under way. Those buildings were renovated with money from grants and donations.
The remaining buildings are privately owned, but Dewey hopes that the Foundation's rehabilitation of its buildings along with the rebuilding of the square and tax credits available to private homeowners who fix up buildings in Christiansted and Frederiksted will encourage the buildings' owners to put some money into repairing their property.
While the Foundation got the train rolling, Dewey stressed that the local government has jumped onboard by spearheading the push to use Highway Administration funds for the project.
Dewey said that Highway Administration funds can be used for the project because the streets involved have federal highway numbers.
Dewey also noted that the Historic Preservation office will examine the site for historical artifacts. He said the evaluation will be done before Tip Top starts work. Once that is complete, the actual rebuilding will begin.
"It will be done in stages to keep the traffic moving," he said.
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