Repairs to BVI’s historic administration building underway

TORTOLA — Rehabilitation of the British Virgin Islands’ former administration building on Main Street in Road Town, which once housed the post office and other government offices, has begun.

A statement from the Office of the Deputy Governor said the first phase of the project will see refurbishment of the front façade, to include replacing structural support to render it safer for pedestrians and motorists.

The so-called Old Administration Building housed the seat of the BVI government up until the first quarter of 1995, when it relocated to the Central Administration Complex, later renamed the Ralph T. O’Neal Complex in honor of the late chief minister and premier who represented Virgin Gorda in the Legislature.

The building and its annex, across from the Sir Olva Georges Plaza and the Road Town Ferry Terminal, was badly damaged during Hurricane Irma in 2017. Prior to the dredging of Wickhams Cay I and Wickhams Cay II in the late 1960s, the building formed the backdrop of the center of commerce and the Road Town Market. In the early days ferry passengers from St. Thomas disembarked in an area near Sir Olva Georges Plaza.