Preserving Marley's Government Yard In Trenchtown

The public housing project where reggae legend Bob Marley lived is being re-envisioned as a historic site and tourist area. But high crime in the depressed neighborhood poses a challenge to dreams of a tourist-friendly shrine to Marley.

1 minute read

June 29, 2007, 6:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


"26 years after the death of the reggae superstar, Trenchtown, which gave birth to reggae music and its legend, is trying to showcase its most prominent resident's legacy."

"It is all happening in the 'government yard', the public housing project where Marley lived and which he sang about famously in his songs."

"This yard - a warren of 16 cramped rooms where Marley and his friends lived - are being restored by Jamaican architect Christopher Whyms-Stone with help from donations from the British, German, Canadian and American embassies."

"It is not easy to attract visitors to the 'culture yard', as the Marley home is now called."

"Trenchtown's image as a violent neighbourhood in crime-ridden Kingston scares away most tourists, who would otherwise like to make the place their main stop on the Bob Marley memory lane trip."

"'The problem is wooing the local tour operators to come to the area. The way to counter [the image] is through reducing crime and by massive advertising,' says Mr Whyms-Stone."

Thursday, June 28, 2007 in BBC

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