The Main Guard
£10,000 for restoration work at the Main Guard
The Friends have agreed to contribute £10,000 for restoration work at the Main Guard building. This was announced by our Vice-Chairman, Major General Simon Pack, at the annual general meeting of members in London on 23 February.
The Main Guard stands in the central square of Gibraltar, between the Parliament and the City Hall. It was built for the Garrison in the eighteenth century, but in the twentieth was used as fire station, a bath house and a government office. It is now the headquarters of the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.
The Trust are having the ground floor of the building redesigned and re-equipped to make it more effective for their work of heritage education. This involves removing a partition and laying a new floor, both of which should restore the area to nearer its original appearance. Originally there was no partition; and the original timber floor was removed in order to carry the weight of the fire engines.
The funding from the Friends will meet the full cost of removing the partition and make a substantial contribution to the re-flooring. In this way it will contribute to the heritage of Gibraltar directly, as well as indirectly by creating a more useful space for the Trust's work.
The Friends wish the Trust every success with the project. We understand that it should be completed in the middle of 2011. We hope that members who visit Gibraltar will take an opportunity to call at the Main Guard and admire the new facilities.
A photograph of the Main Guard can be found at: