Located in the heart of the city, the government wharf is a historic location. The OPIS Foundation has presented a plan to the Government of Sierra Leone and the Freetown City Council to redevelop this area. This plan covers six city blocks and has been approved. The existing structures which are already demolished or are in poor shape will be completely removed. A new terminal and dock capable of receiving large cruise ships and their tourists will be developed. The historical monuments will be restored. A shopping center for the tourist and the local populace will be built. A convention center with an adjacent hotel will be developed. The city hall will be relocated into the new office building which will be constructed as part of the convention center. Finally sufficient parking space has been allocated and a new multilevel parking garage will be constructed.
 |
The Honorable Mayor of Freetown was happy
after seeing the project plans |
The convention center will be the heart of the project bringing a place for conventions, expositions and meetings to take place. There are no other facilities in Sierra Leone capable of hosting conferences or meetings. While the conference center by itself will not generate tremendous revenues, it will generate tremendous business for the hotels and the shopping center as well as make the office building the desirable place to have an office in Freetown. The hotel is projected to have 1000 rooms and will be the only "international" hotel in downtown Freetown when it opens. The OPIS Foundation intends for this hotel to be the hotel of choice for anyone wanting to do business in Freetown and Sierra Leone. The shopping center will be fueled not only by the business activity generated by the convention center but also by the local populace and the cruise ships which will bring a continuous flow of tourists to Freetown. Finally, currently parking in Freetown is a major issue. Adjacent parking is needed to support the hotel and the convention center. The Foundation anticipates that significant revenue will be brought in by the only multilevel parking facility in Sierra Leone.
We anticipate that it will take three years to fully develop this project. The project will directly create 5,000 jobs and we expect that more jobs will be created as a result of the rejuvanated downtown district.
