Shaping the Future of Our City Center:
Shaping the Future of Our City Center Curaçao has a beautiful city center – from its broad streets to little alleys, its unique architecture and eclectic charm appeal to tourists and locals alike. Rooted deep in its colonial past, buildings are reminiscent of those in Amsterdam, but are painted vibrant shades of blues, pinks and yellows. The oldest part of the city was built in the 17th century, while others derive from the 18th and 19th centuries. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the possibilities for ‘Punda’ as it is known to the locals are endless. In recent years however, the island’s vivacious city center has lost its way. TEXT NEELAM MELWANI The deep-water harbor is central, and visitors can spend hours sitting on the banks of the harbor, sipping on piña coladas or an “Amstel Bright,” eating a fresh red snapper, and watching as the ‘swinging lady’ bridge opens and closes making way for the variety of ships that come and go. From jewelry stores, to tourist shops and big brand names, the city center already has so much to offer, but has so much more potential. Curaçao Business Magazine had an opportunity to interview Mr. Kevin Jonckheer, and speak to some other members of the board of the Downtown Management Organization (DMO),
24
CURAÇAO BUSINESS
a group of business owners who are responsible for the upkeep and development of ‘Punda.’ According to Mr. Jonckheer, its president, “We need to equip ‘Punda’ to become the ‘cute, cozy downtown’ that we all want it to be. It’s up to all of us, and not just DMO, to inject life back into our historical capital, so we can enjoy the ‘Punda’ we all once knew.”
Challenges Many locals say that going to ‘Punda’ is not what it once used to be. Empty store fronts indicate how retail businesses and local commerce has shifted from the downtown areas to the numerous malls and strip malls that are more
| NUMBER 1 | 2016
accessible and ‘central.’ The lack of parking makes coming to Punda relatively difficult and inaccessible for some, and the lack of adequate public transportation makes it increasingly inconvenient to come downtown. Additionally, as the kinds of tourists that visit Curaçao continue to change, calculating sales based on the tourism market is increasingly unreliable. Mr. Jonckheer’s biggest fear however lied not in the lack of accessibility to Punda, but rather in the number of opportunities that Curaçao hadn’t taken advantage of – something that’s central to his vision for Punda’s future development. “We have to move forward,” Mr. Jonckheer stated, “and the private sector and government must trust each other to do their part.”
Opportunities “We are excited for the future of our downtown historic city. It is great to see so many positive initiatives taking place in our downtown area. Imagine what we can do if we implement all of these plans. The downtown area is mentioned in the Tourism Master Plan, the tourism industry is focusing on this, so it is just a matter of time.” – Miles Mercera, Curaçao Hospitality and Tourism Association Rather than focusing on the numerous challenges the downtown area faces, Mr. Jonckheer was certain that with the right recipe, Curaçao would be able to pump new life into its historical city center before it is too late. The development of Punda is highlighted as a key point in Curaçao’s Tourism Master Plan, 2015 – 2020 (http://www.curacao.com/media/ uploads/2015/10/07/CUR_TMP_Oct-05-15_ Final.pdf). ‘Punda’ is what sets Curaçao apart from other islands in the Caribbean and around the world, and all stakeholders and political
