ST. CROIX — A group of seven dilapidated homes in the Free Gut area of Frederiksted that were originally built by freed slaves have been selected for renovations as part of a preservation training program offered by Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism Inc. to preserve the island’s architectural heritage and create low- and moderate-income rental units, an exhibition space, and an artist residency.
“We want to show how preserving is economical, it’s sustainable, and it’s probably the most green approach in terms of reuse of materials,” Frandelle Gerard, CHANT executive director, said.
As a nonprofit organization committed to preserving Crucian culture and heritage, CHANT promotes sustainable community development with a focus on tourism, traditional skills, and heritage-focused workforce development.
In addition to CHANT’s network of world-class local tourism providers, the nonprofit has provided educational and art programming as well as workforce development training to the island’s youth.
Beyond its woodworking class, CHANT offers a grant-funded building arts training program designed to stem the loss of traditional art forms and address the long-term problems of abandoned and derelict historic buildings in the town of Frederiksted by restoring and preserving them.
“The training program is all about connecting our young people to the traditional ways of building, teaching them basics in woodworking, masonry that are transferable to historic preservation,” Gerard said.
The training is focused on preserving some of the wooden homes that are still standing on Hospital Street in the Free Gut area of Frederiksted that were built by freed slaves during the Danish colonial era.
“They used design technologies and materials that have withstood hundreds of years of weather and massive hurricanes, and we have a lot to learn from these buildings,” Gerard said.
CHANT is working with the property owners to renovate seven homes located on eight lots, Gerard said. She said documents identify one of the original owners from 1777 as a free Black man named John Woodjet.
“As early as 1777, of the eight parcels, six of them were owned by free Black men and women,” she said. “So, this is one of the oldest continuously inhabited free Black communities that’s under the U.S. flag.”
The program, which has been offered annually since 2017, has trained over 35 teenagers and young adults in their 20s. In addition to getting compensated for their work, Gerard said the trainees often go on to find employment in historic preservation and construction.
After beginning the latest training session with eight participants, a core group of four trainees remain to learn from Afreekan Southwell, instructor of CHANT’s woodworking class and preservation training program. The crew is renovating one of the homes that will become an exhibition space to tell the history of that home, as well as the entire Free Gut area.
“The most interesting thing about this whole project is the way in which the whole entire construct was developed, the way in which the method was implemented,” Southwell said about the home. “We noticed that there was hardly any nails in the joints. So, in your joints was pegs.”
Southwell emphasized the importance of learning from these ancient methods.
“It’s good to know that we have an opportunity in order to see how these ancient constructs was developed, and we should learn at least the method of how it’s been constructed, and our future buildings would actually withstand the test of time,” he said.
Patrick Albuja, 21, said he started out taking the woodworking class at CHANT. After learning how to make a cutting board, he said he wanted to do more. That’s when the opportunity came up to renovate the building.
“It’s been a fun experience, so I stayed,” he said. “It keeps me out of trouble.”
Albuja said he is proud of the work he has completed. He said he wants to start a company with his friend that would specialize in making furniture, doors, bowls, and jewelry.
“We’re just working on getting the skills and the money and everything organized for that,” he said.
Daniel St. Jean, 17, said he signed up for the program to learn multiple trades and to stay off the streets. He said he eventually wants to take the skills he is learning and start his own construction company.
“I’m learning a lot,” he said, discussing work he has completed to remove the building’s old roof. “So far, I love it.”
Southwell said the programs at CHANT are designed to provide youth with opportunity.
“It’s good to see our young people dem are getting involved into at least some of the skills that’s available for them,” he said, adding some trainees who have completed the program are now successful. “They are actually doing something; they’re not on the street. So, really and truly, what they have implemented is working.”
Micheal Navarro, 17, said he got involved in the program because carpentry is his dream job.
“That’s what I want to be best at,” he said.
Navarro, who wants to join Job Corps next year to learn more carpentry, has plans to build his own house one day on property he owns in Estate La Grange.
“A lot that we’re doing, I’m going to be required to do it one day, so I’m learning a lot and I’m doing a lot,” he said.
Omar Joseph, 30, said he loves being involved in the program. As a handyman, he said he does a variety of construction work like carpentry and roofing. He said the preservation training gives him a chance to advance his skills. He also has a personal connection to the restoration project.
“I have an opportunity to fix up the neighborhood that I grew up in, so that is definitely a blessing for me,” he said.
