Sunday, December 23, 2012

THE ACCIDENTAL URBANIST -- PART 4

PROFILE OF PRESERVATIONIST ELIZABETH BELL



“They have to -- it is the law. McDonald's tried to put its arches up and kept arriving in Antigua with seven corporate lawyers, but they couldn't do it,” Bell said. 

“They are here, in a sort of `colonial’ McDonald's and the locals don't want to go there because it is believed there is a ghost. Locals prefer Burger King for that reason!”



In a recent election, Bell was part of a group that campaigned for an urban planner to become mayor of Antigua. 

In a nation where violence and bloodshed is not too terribly rare in politics, Bell’s group staged a peaceful, but ultimately unsuccessful protest of the ballot box results.

She continues to be a major sponsor of the restoration materials for the Colonial Art Museum. 

Bell also has financially supported the restoration of several historic paintings that were careworn and in jeopardy of being lost to neglect from lack of funding.

Elizabeth Bell profile continues tomorrow Dec. 24




 

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