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The Grande Salle, a multipurpose facility located in the Tom Adams Financial Centre, will get a new name on December 15, 2017 when it officially becomes the Courtney Blackman Grande Salle in honour of the Central Bank of Barbados’ first and longest serving Governor.
Blackman, who headed the Central Bank from 1972 to 1987, oversaw the construction of its Church Village headquarters during his third term at the helm. Until that time, the organisation’s staff was housed in different locations throughout Bridgetown, including the Parliament Building and the Treasury Building.
He is also credited with the inclusion of the Grande Salle and the Frank Collymore Hall in the construction of the complex. At the time, his plan was considered controversial because the facilities were not directly related to a central bank’s traditional role, but Blackman was adamant that the Bank’s headquarters include areas that the public could use.
Since opening in 1986, the Frank Collymore Hall has become a premier performing arts facility, while the Grande Salle has been used frequently as a venue for public discussion forums as well as for art displays, including the Crop Over Visual Arts Exhibition, which has been mounted there annually for more than two decades.
The naming of the Grande Salle in honour of Sir Courtney Blackman was first announced by Acting Governor Cleviston Haynes during his speech at the Bank’s 45th Anniversary Awards Ceremony in May this year.