Grange Says Fort Rocky Will Be Fully Ready This Year As Official Entertainment Zone

Entertainment Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange says the delays in repurposing Fort Rocky, which was declared Jamaica’s first entertainment zone in 2017, were due to necessary ecological assessments.

According to the Minister, the 18th century heritage site, which is one of five old forts in Port Royal, Kingston, has now been declared suitable for development by environmental authorities.

In giving an update during the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Grange said that the assessments were mandated by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), as a means of determining what activities were suitable to take place at the venue.

“We are also bringing life back into Fort Rocky. So in building the venue, we had to conduct an ecological assessment of the site, which caused the delay, as well as a survey of flora and fauna, and a study of of sound and light. So this venue is available – but the buildout was delayed because we had to do this,” she stated.

“NEPA demanded that this be done, so these have been critical in determining the type of entertainment activities that should take place at Fort Rocky considering potential effects on residence, aviation and sensitive ecological resources in the area,” she added.

Grange said that the designs for Fort Rocky, which is a nesting site for endangered turtles had to be carefully done, to ensure the sea creatures are not displaced.

“So we are now aware that changes in light or noise in an ecosystem may have an impact not only the functions of individual species, but the overall function of the ecosystem. And you know, the turtles nest in the area and so we had to and in fact when they come on land and they nest, they use the moon as their light to go back to see. So we have to design the light and the sound in a specific way to use that venue so we have been deliberately careful and sensitive in its development,” she said.

“So I want to report to the house that based on the findings on the environmental assessment Fort Rocky is suitable for the purpose intended with careful enironmental and ecological monitoring. So this year we will proceed to build out the parking lots and the viewing decks at Fort Rocky. And it is really going to be a beautiful site…,” the Minister added.

Grange, who also holds the Ministerial portfolios of Culture, Gender and Sport, said that Fort Rocky’s development is part of her Ministry’s thrust to address the issue of night noise and the insufficiency of entertainment venues, by repurposing heritage sites.

During his presentation in the Budget Debate in March this year, Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke had announced that “the necessary funding of $120 million has been included to complete the rehabilitation of Jam World and Fort Rocky as fully functional 24-7 Entertainment Zones”.

In May last year, Grange had announced during the media launch of the One Blood Family Fest at the Jamaica Pegasus, that her team was in the finalizing stages of preparation for establishing Fort Rocky as an entertainment zone.

She had also revealed that teh Entertainment Ministry had commissioned “an eight-week study to see how the sound and the light will affect the turtles when they come out to nest”, as well as other endemic species”.