A day before his departure to UNESCO, Dr Davidson Hepburn bids farewell to the team at the Antiquities, Monuments, and Museums Corporation (AMMC), which is helping to organize the restoration of historic Old Nassau in the Downtown Revitalization Project. Pictured from left: Henry Hepburn, Architecture and Urban Planning Professor at The College of The Bahamas; Dr Hepburn; Andrew Chin, Assistant Dean, Florida A&M University and Dr Keith Tinker, AMMC Director. (BIS photo/Gena Gibbs)

Nassau, Bahamas - Dr Davidson Hepburn, outgoing Chairman of the Antiquities, Monuments, and Museums Corporation (AMMC) has left to serve as President of the General Counsel of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, France.     

Speaking on his last day at the Corporation on March 12, Dr Hepburn said, “I don’t like to consider myself the past Chairman of the AMMC because it was a wonderful experience here and I enjoyed every moment of it.”   

As the chairman of the AMMC, he was keen for Bahamians to become knowledgeable about the history of the country.  He also helped promote and plan the restoring of Old Nassau, which is part of the Downtown Revitalization Project.   

For example, he is passionate about returning the historic Dowdeswell Street to its former glory as a “Miracle Mile”. The idea is to make historic downtown attractive, so it can serve as an international monument for The Bahamas.   

Dr Hepburn said, “We are hoping to get all the pieces together, but those are decisions that are made by Governments, and not something that AMMC staff can initiate independently.”    

“I will still be involved in the Downtown Redevelopment Project, but from the UNESCO perspective.  We are participating in educational conventions that focus on areas of preservation, particularly in documenting slave routes,” he added.               

“The Downtown Redevelopment Project fits in beautifully with what UNESCO is promoting in building restoration and historical site preservation.”  

UNESCO is a special agency, whose goal is to encourage international peace and universal respect by promoting collaboration among nations through education.   

Dr Hepburn said, “In September of last year, I was selected to serve a two-year term as the President of the General Conference of UNESCO in Paris, representing 193 countries.”    

“I believe in promoting global unity worldwide and will continue my work, dealing with the needs and requests of all of these countries.”   

Dr Hepburn explained that as President and Chairman of the Conference, he would concentrate on the five major UNESCO programs in International Relations, Education, Science, Communications, and Culture, rather than spearheading any projects.   

“It is a great honour for my country, the Caribbean, and also for me, so I am very happy to represent The Bahamas there,” he said.

Former homes and cottages like these Dowdeswell Street businesses are perfect representations of how the quintessential downtown residential neighbourhoods appeared. Dr Davidson Hepburn envisioned the Dowdeswell Street “Miracle Mile” to include restoration of homes such as these to become part of the Downtown Revitalization Project. (BIS photo/Gena Gibbs)