The Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) project to transform downtown Kingston into a cultural district is set to be expanded during Reggae Month, celebrated in February.

The initiative, which involves infrastructure and beautification works, aims to highlight the country’s iconic musical heritage while creating a space for recreation.

It includes the renovation of roadways, sidewalk improvement and drainage works and the mounting of murals that tell stories of the country’s musical past.

“For Reggae Month, the municipality will be expanding some of the projects downtown. We have been pedestrianising some roadways and softening the streetscape in sections of the urban centre,” said Mayor of Kingston Delroy Williams.

Williams was speaking at the official launch of Reggae Month 2023 during a church service held at the Fellowship Tabernacle in Kingston on Sunday (January 29).

He said the project will be expanded along Mark Lane, where murals have been painted and paving stones laid, along with sections of Orange, Charles and Beeston streets.

“Those streets are very pivotal in the evolution of our musical culture and the evolution of our music industry, and we have to pay homage to the role that sections of the city space played in the creation of the music,” he noted.

Williams said infrastructure works will also be undertaken on sections of Church Street, from Barry Street to Ocean Boulevard.

“We will be bricking the streets and planting trees and creating gardens along Church Street. That is just part of the small work that we are doing pursuing the destination city concept,” he said, noting that the objective of the municipality is to make downtown a tourism city.

The mayor said the private sector is confident in the development of downtown, noting the many investments taking place in the area and renovation of buildings that are being put to commercial use.

“That says a lot about confidence… about the private sector being willing to take risks in downtown,” he said.