In a few weeks’ time, The Valley Polyclinic is expected to be handed over to the Anguilla Government and the Health Authority of Anguilla.
As the health edifice nears completion, with some portions of the cordoned-off plywood removed, The Anguillian newspaper could not resist taking the above shot of the impressive building, thereby providing a peek of it for our readers.
Construction work commenced on the massive health facility on March 5, 2020, with a ground-breaking ceremony. So hard was the well-trodden ground, over the years, that the digging shovels were only placed in a position where the turning of the sod was to have taken place.
It was a much-used area. In more recent years it was the site of a separate Dental Clinic, a remodelled Valley Health Clinic – and a converted old health residential facility for the Anguilla National Trust. They have all been demolished for the new polyclinic. During the colonial years, when Anguilla was part of St. Kitts-Nevis, most of the area mainly accommodated a small cluster of virtually primitive public health structures.
In order to accommodate the new Valley Polyclinic, and its now beautified grounds, the large trees at the entrance have been removed to provide landscape spaces for Christmas palms and other ornamental and floral plants. These provide an attractive frontier for the setback Polyclinic which, among other purposes, will serve as a twinned medical and dental facility; a venue for medication dispensing; and a first-time housing area for the entire executive team of the Heath Authority of Anguilla, including offices for the Board of Directors.
The Valley Polyclinic has the design stamp, so to speak, of Anguillian Architect, Mr. Raoul Vanterpool, and the building expertise of PACE, a local Construction Company, headed by Mr. Lewis Liburd.
The Polyclinic, one of the current set of projects, funded under the Anguilla Programme, was described as a most carefully discussed project. One person, with knowledge of the matter, recalled: “There was a lot of back and forth discussions involving the Governments of Anguilla and the UK, the Governor’s Office, responsible for the Anguilla Programme, and to some extent, the British Structural Firm, WYG.” It is understood that the discussions were mostly about the design and eventual look of the building.
Following the heat of the melee, Raoul Vanterpool swung into artistic architectural action, producing an attractive and original design for The Valley Polyclinic. The end result is an imposing landmark and a place of beauty for medical, health and dental services, medication-dispensing services, and executive offices in the middle and most trafficked area of Anguilla.
The Valley Polyclinic, the just-commissioned Western Polyclinic at South Hill, and the recently extensive upgrading and expansion of the Princess Alexandra Hospital at Pope Hill, represent a major improvement of medical and health facilities and services in Anguilla.
