Angostura to fund $.4M Siegert Park facelift

SIEGERT PARK, a part of Angostura Ltd’s heritage and the site of the old sugar mill owned by Angostura’s founders, the Siegert family, is set to get a $400,000 facelift as part of the Mayor’s plans for refurbishing the city’s parks and squares. The project, which is being funded by Angostura, will see pathways upgraded, a new playground  structure installed to accommodate children ages 2 - 5, the construction of a new bandstand and a general beautification of the Square with new landscaped areas. The project will be done by Hallmark Enterprises. Project manager of Hallmark Enterprises Sharon Hall explained that the project will be conducted in phases, with the first phase costing $50,000 scheduled to begin in June and completed by the end of July. The entire project is earmarked for completion by January 2005.

Giving a brief history of Siegert Park, corporate communications manager at Angostura Ltd, Giselle Laronde-West, explained that the Siegert family came from Venezuela 1870 and settled in Port-Spain. She explained that in 1911 the Siegert purchased the property, which was formerly a part of the Woodbrook Estate. Laronde-West explained that when the ideas of refurbishing Squares across the country came into effect, the company took the initiative to adopt Siegert Park for refurbishment because of its historical connection with Angostura Ltd.

Speaking to reporters after the disbursement of the funds for phase one of the project, Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown explained that he was very happy that Angostura had taken the initiative to undertake the Siegert Park Project and called on other corporate sponsors to get involved in the project. He called on people to take up the responsibility for the parks in their areas, since this showed that they cared and had love for their country. He called on members of the public to stop condemning themselves and their country, since this did not help the country’s status. He called on people to be positive, “since a lot of good things were happening in the country.”