About Us

You can’t fail to be excited by the amazing historical attractions found in Downtown, Belize City. With so much to see and learn; it’s hard to narrow down the long list of symbolic events, sights and attractions that have come to life since the origination of Belize City in the early 1600’s.

In an effort to invest in the improvement of the core competencies of Downtown, Belize City (its activity, historic value, cultural heritage and community), and to encourage socio-economic integration, the Government of Belize and the Taiwan International Development Fund (ICDF) have launched “The Belize City House of Culture and Downtown Rejuvenation Project (BCHCDRP)”. The project utilizes an Eco-Museum Development Concept and is valued at BZD $15.1million. The project is currently being executed by the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation in conjunction with the National Institute of Culture and History and the Belize City Council.

 

A Vision of an ecomuseum

In contrast to a conventional museum, which emphasizes collecting objects and displaying them in one building, an Eco-museum leaves objects in their current context It could encompass a series of display nodes, architecture, and landscapes which formulate a network where the local community members could work with a museum specialist to present their history; therefore, an Eco-museum could physically consist of a core and its satellites. The core museum possesses the unique contents which render the overall story of the city.The satellites,according to their individual characteristic resources, are displayed with thematic subjects, cultural artifacts,and people’s memories. A network connects the satellites with the core to construct paths of discovery.

 

A Core Museum

Restoration of the Belize City House of Culture and its grounds

The Government House was built for the then new Superintendent of the colony known as British Honduras, in 1814. Post Independence of Belize in 1981, the Government House was renovated as the House of Culture in 1998, which now offer exhibition rooms and meeting spacefor public use.

In this project, the Government House will be restored and repositioned as the Heritage Museum of Belize. Additionally, a new House of Culture (HOC), which contains a large multi functional space, learning rooms, meeting rooms and an outdoor performance plaza will be built next to the Government House. It will act as a cultural incubator where various learning programs are provided to the citizens.

Satellite Museums

Restoration and revitalization of selected historic buildings

Belize City, the first mainland post-Colombian settlement of the country, still has physical attributes of distinctive urban fabric, such as roads, draining networks and buildings,which all tell the history of the city. In this project, a number of public historic buildings will be selected to demonstrate to the local community what possible roles a satellite could play.Through encouraging the participation of residents in running and managing historic assets, a network of satellites, such as cooking, classrooms, galleries and shops, can be developed.

 

Community Empowerment

The project encourages storytelling, community tour guiding and youth training programs, to cultivate the Eco-museum idea among local residents. One of the strategies is to invite people to share their memories and stories. Another example is the Creole Brukdung Project which provides courses for the youth to learn Brukdung music, a fading music genre played with traditional African and European music instruments, together with Creole singing and dancing. This project has successfully attracted many young participants, and they are now able to perform publicly, reviving the once popular music form and carrying on a piece of traditional culture.

 
 

Improvement of Urban Public Spaces

Transformation of Paslow Lot

Paslow Lot used to be home of the Paslow Building.After the beautiful colonial-style building was burned down in 2002, the Paslow Lot became a vacant site. Considering that the site is close to the harbor where cruise tourists disembark,it can be a starting point of the tour route of the Eco-museum network, leading visitors going south to the downtown area of Belize City. A new building is proposed to be constructed to align with the street fabric characterized by the nearby postal office and courthouse and to provide space to accommodate craft shops or art workshops run by local residents or artists.

 
 

Improvement Of Urban Public Spaces

Revival of Yarborough Green

The Yarborough Green is on the southern side of the downtown area around 500 meters away from the Government House.The neighborhood is also home to the historic Yarborough Cemetery and Statue of Isaiah Morter, Belize’s I st Black Millionaire and is now where a developing community reside. As the biggest outdoor space in this area, Yarborough Green can be an extension of the Eco-museum with the development of an Yarborough Court to host basketball games bringing performance activities and events into local communities, thereby enhancing local participation and cultural inclusion.