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2.
did not approve of the City Development side of the scheme, disliking especially the intensively planned layout of the area which contains the existing Government House, Secretariat and Public Works Department Offices, which adjoins the Cathedral and lies immediately below the Public Gardens. At that time, too, it was not considered advisable from a financial point of view to embark on a scheme of such magnitude which might not prove so financially productive as was once anticipated.
3.
Since taking office I have had this scheme under consideration and, although I find myself strongly in agreement with Sir Andrew Caldecott in disliking the proposal for intensive development of the sites above described, I cannot agree with him regarding the undesirability of building a new Government House for the following reasons.
(1) It is no longer economically sound to
continue to maintain the present Government House and as time goes on it will become increasingly more unsound; the upkeep of the structure has averaged $7,000 during the five years 1932-1936: in 1937 repairs and redecoration cost $20,000 and in this year their cost will exceed $12,000.
Moreover, the present Government House and its grounds are not adequate to modern requirements either in size or convenience. It is, of course, almost unbearably hot during the summer months.
(2) The existing Central Offices of Government
are quite unworthy of the Colony's status,