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URBAN RENEWAL · BARBADOS

The first phase of the Temple Yard redevelopment in Bridgetown, Barbados, will be finished before Independence Day on 30 November. Housing Minister Chris Gibbs gave that pledge to Barbados Today on Tuesday 29 September.

He spoke during a break in the House of Assembly, the elected lower chamber of parliament. Phase one is meant to bring back most of the artisans who worked there before construction began.

Shops and boats along the Careenage in central Bridgetown, the commercial core where Temple Yard also lies. (Photo: David Stanley, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

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What the minister promised

Gibbs said the site is in final quality checks and “snagging”, the builders’ term for fixing small defects before handover. Phase one, he said, “does almost 100 per cent match” the space the artisans had before.

He could not give a completion date for phase two, which is meant to add room for new craftspeople and creative shops. Barbados Today noted that no date has been set for tenants to move in.

A cultural hub with a long wait

Temple Yard in Cheapside has long been a centre of leatherwork, crafts and food for Bridgetown’s Rastafarian community. Many stalls had fallen into disrepair over the years.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced the rebuild in 2019, saying she wanted to “remove every stain of discrimination against Barbadians”, especially Rastafarians. Work only began after the artisans were moved out in December 2024.

According to Barbados Tourism Investment Inc. (BTI), the state company running the project, a survey had found about 24 legitimate artisans on the site. About 15 moved temporarily to the Pelican craft centre, Barbados Today reported in January 2025.

Deadlines that have slipped before

This is not the first target date. In January 2026, a BTI spokeswoman told Barbados Today that phase one would be finished by the end of that month.

She added that phase two would take four to five months, finishing the project in the first half of 2026. She expected just under 40 artisans once the site was fully running.

Relocated traders told the paper that sales at Pelican had dropped sharply because customers could not find them. For them, the timing of the move back matters more than the official finish date.

Part of a wider push for creative space

Gibbs linked the project to a national plan for permanent workspaces for artists and micro-businesses. At the same sitting, the House approved a 25-year lease for a long-promised National Art Gallery.

The gallery will occupy Block A at the Garrison, a World Heritage site, with about 4,000 square metres of land and buildings. The nominal rent is Bds$6,000 a year (about US$3,000 at the fixed peg of two Barbados dollars per US dollar).

For more background on the island, see Barbados Explained: The Island, the Economy, the Republic and What to Watch. Those considering a longer stay can read Moving to Barbados: Visas, Costs, Work Permits and Daily Life.

What Is Not Yet Known

The government has not said when tenants get keys, what fees they will pay, or how stalls will be allocated. Earlier, a vendors’ group had asked for written guarantees of first choice.

The minister’s timeline has so far been reported only by Barbados Today and has not been independently confirmed. No official schedule for phase two has been published.

Sources: Barbados Today, “Temple Yard redevelopment phase to be ready ‘before November 30’”, 29 September 2026; Barbados Today, “Artisans to return to ‘reimagined’ Temple Yard ‘in coming months’”, 6 January 2026; Barbados Today, “Temple Yard redevelopment to begin this year, officials vow”, 23 January 2025.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error