A climate resilient community centre will be one of many long-lasting additions to the DVRP legacy. DVRP is the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project. Its aim is to reduce Saint Lucia’s vulnerability to climate change and extreme weather events such as storms, hurricanes and floods.
Piaye Community Centre is one of 5 hurricane resilient facilities to be constructed under the DVRP. Another is the Odsan Community Centre which completed construction in late 2022. The other 3 are The Roblot Community Centre, The Bexon Community Centre and The Blanchard Community Centre.
Collins Lynch is the owner of Triple L Co. Ltd. which provides the contracting services for the Piaye Community Centre. Lynch asserts upon completion it will serve as a human resource development centre, training facility and emergency shelter among other uses.
“It is a real modern building. It has a ramp differently abled persons can use. In the event of a storm, it can be used as a shelter. From what I can understand it will have a doctor’s quarters. It has an area where you can have community shows, various things, internet, kitchen. It is to help uplift the community “
The 11,000 square foot structure will include rainwater harvesting systems, an IT Room, theatre, bar, bathrooms for male, female and differently abled persons.
Amoy Theobalds-Prospere is the lead engineer on the Piaye Community Centre project. Theobalds-Prospere notes that the centre’s most integral role is as an emergency shelter.
“So the community centre will also serve as an emergency centre. It has features such as share walls. We have a very detailed truss system as well that will all be incorporated to be a resilient building and would be able to withstand hurricane force winds and not just hurricane force winds, in terms of climate change we are looking at droughts, we have the rainwater harvesting system as part of this building “
The team of Triple L Co. Ltd and Theobalds Consulting are also responsible for the construction of the Roblot Community Centre. That facility is designed with similar features of the Piaye Community Centre.
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