Let's Build Gonave, Haiti!

When you look at La Gonave many folks will say that the different villages and towns lack critical infrastructure.  Fire, schools, police, hospitals, post offices, clinics, parks, community centers, administrative buildings, etc.  These are buildings that I am calling common core structures. These are buildings that are typically needed in most villages and towns.  If you look at a blue print for building up the island, establishing common core structures is a starting point.  The idea is to build only those structures I mentioned above in a concentrated area, with no streets.  Streets may form a border around Common Core, but pedestrian paths would be used between the structures.  The goal is to lower the overall cost of construction, but mimic the type of structures in one village to another.  Hence the name Common Core since these are common buildings that form the core of the villages.  Think of them as the downtown of the villages. These ...

The countdown to La Gonave is coming up.  During my trip there, I will be teaching 4 adult student apprentices about beekeeping.  The goal is to have them at the certified beekeeper level before I leave the island.  We also will be installing 2 or 3 hives. The observation hive may come in time for our partner to bring it with her to the island.  If that is the case, we will install the hive there at that time.  We do know that the $1,500 hive has been awarded to our partner not-for-profit.  This is the first observation hive to ever have existed on La Gonave, and possibly the entire country of Haiti! Since we lost the grant for the pollinator park, we will be teaming up with the same not-for-profit an reapplying for the grant.  This could allow us to continue down the path of having a pollinator park soon on the island soon!  We are extremely excited about this project and are already finding ways to do more with less funds.  We decided t...

 Large development projects usually include large buildings, however that isn't always the case.  Some of the first developments on La Gonave will be built to serve the population size, test the market with little expenses, and projects that can be built cheaply. Having small buildings that serve as small bars and shops will be the way to go.  Many ideas that will go into the Focus City such as building bikeways, and pedestrian only paths make having small village style buildings the way to go.  We are currently looking at affordable ways of construction, and below is an example of an open-air style pub that we have been looking at for La Gonave. The idea with all of the development structures is that they have a radius around the structure where there has to be a foot path incorporated into the plan.  This builds up infrastructure while not utilizing public funds, but also allows the business to have their own style. Such a structure like the one below ...

One major issue on La Gonave is water run-off.  When there is a hard rain, many areas are flooded.  Water borne illness can spread as polluted water mixes with drinking water.  Most of this is due to the lack of trees, plants and grasses to hold back the water.  These vital elements hold the soil in place and allow for the water to soak into the soil and fill under ground aquifers.  This then will be water that the population can drink. Due to erosion and deforestation, any new development that disturbs the land, will only make the situation of water run-off and erosion worse.  One plan is to build a series of pipes or small canals that will allow water to run off the roofs and walking paths.  This water will then flow to dry creeks that we will build.  These creeks will be designed to slow the force of water down, and even have different paths for water to go.  To save on costs, local stone and rock will be used to line the path of the cr...

Coeur de Soula via www.skyscrapercity.com The Focus city is more than just housing.  When you look at the overall idea, it is to place residents close to jobs, and key infrastructure, building nodes along a roadway, or rail line. One of the central themes has been that La Gonave should focus on mid-rise to high-rise buildings.  The lack of heavy equipment on the island to build high-rises will be a reason for the initial focus city to have mid-rise buildings.  Within a housing area, central parts of the project will have parks, laundry facilities, small retail stores, schools, small health clinics, and even police substations. The core theme is to have very little streets and mostly use pathways.  These pathways will allow for regular pedestrian use, and keep vehicle traffic away.  By having key infrastructure like parks and schools central to the neighborhood, it makes the areas more efficient and financially attractive.  Having the core designed ...

Early on when I started this blog I had talked about Focus City sites on La Gonave.  Hurko Co was leading the charge of doing this and many different places on La Gonave were considered ideas.  These would be places where there was a small to no human population, mostly flat terrain, high potential to tourism, etc.  Hurko Co had been very quiet for many months, and had not mentioned much about what they planned on doing in the future. Hurko mentioned building hand carts, and honeybee hives that would employ locals, but other than that, very little has been mentioned.  The original plan of building housing on the island from the company seemed to have vanished.  There was not actual timeline for when housing would start.  Now it seems that the Focus City could get some steam.  The most I have been told is that individual houses and farms would be the initial focus.  Still basic infrastructure would be built though no detail if building heavy rai...

Below is a rough copy of what the Focus City plot map will look like.  One the original format it has the plot numbers and POR or Point of Reference.   Those plot points have been removed until it is finalized.  The plot map will allow for developers to pick a plot area for development.  Each individual plot or square represents a city block of 500 ft by 500 ft.  Within this Focus City (Area) will include housing, central park, school, retail, police/fire station, hotel, admin building, a museum, and some light manufacturing. We are still working on this, but this plot map has been submitted to developers and business owners to give them an idea of what the Focus City will look like.    Go Gonave

I mentioned in a few previous blogs about establishing rail as a main mode of travel around Gonave.  It will decrease the footprint and move people around Gonave very easily.  Transit stops can be new locations where develop starts, and can even spur vitalization in existing communities.  Having a modern infrastructure system that can not only move people and goods, will help to lure business development from foreign investors. Now many will say Gonave doesn't have good roads, housing, jobs, water, sewer service, so building a multimillion dollar rail system is far from everyone's mind.  Keep in mind that a timeline for something like this is many years down the road after some mild development has taken place on Gonave.  Also the system, if built, would be built in phases.  With the Hurko housing and office development, along with them wanting to build large Wind Turbines and a road connecting a village to the Focus City, planning ahead is a good idea. ...

More information on the proposed focus area within Gonave.  I was told that if the Haitian Parliament approves a specific type of language for zoning, then Gonave could see the development or something similar to it, shown below.   When asked in the email how the materials would be obtained to create this development, Hurko stated their main supplier of material is the American company, Home Depot.  They mentioned that a high percentage of fixtures, wood supplies, etc have been from Home Depot on other project they have done.  Give that the bottom portion of the building will be concrete and the upper floor wood, it appears that the site will go up very quickly.  With modern energy efficient fixtures, this will elevate Gonave.  The brick will be either made onsite, or purchased from a brick manufacturer.  I assume this manufacturer will be from the United States as well.  This project, to put it in the words of Hurko, "Is a game changer". ...

This rise of the mini bus.  This is a Poncho ADG-HX6JLAE mini bus, which is made in Japan.  The bus holds about 10 seats, and of course you can stand on it.  Now why a mini bus? Cost To purchase these mini buses cost a fraction of what a large city bus cost.  These vehicles offer an affordable way to move around certain parts of Gonave, and could be a vital link from the proposed Focus City to rural villages.  Operational costs should also be lower with these smaller buses. Size While these mini buses will not form the entire transit system, they will help with the initial transit line and as I mentioned connecting the Focus City to a village.  Given the small size of Gonave, and the small streets that are proposed by Hurko, these size buses make sense. Implementation These buses are practical in terms in implementation.  The hope is to have a rail line constructed that will connect many parts of Gonave.  These mini buses will serve...

Walking street is a plan that I brought up several months ago when I first started this blog.  After seeing the plans for Hurko's Focus City development, I sent this to them. Recently, they mentioned that the streetcape could look very similar to what I produced.  "Absent of street furniture, and bike lines, this design is very close to our ideas", said a unnamed source with Hurko Co.  So to give you an idea of what they proposed and the image of "Walking Street", I have included both. Below is my idea of Walking Street which would have streetlamps, bike lanes, signage, and street furniture.  You see 4 story buildings with the bottom floor being retail while the upper floors could be residential or office.   Below is Hurko's plan for Focus City.  As you can see it looks very similar, however the buildings are 5 stories, with bottom floor being retail, the street lamps are removed and hover above the street, and there are no bike lanes, or street...

The Focus Area along the eastern tip of Gonave is planned to have a Wi-Fi throughout the zone.  According to Hurko Co., the company that is proposing the mixed use development, would equip the area with free Wi-Fi that would allow laptops, cell phones, and tablets to connect to the world effortlessly. The plan would allow for Gonave to have retail units on the bottom floor, along with a walking plaza between the buildings.  Also a 100 room hotel is planned, along with street booths for food on the go.  No exact time frame for the development has been released. Go Gonave!

I was sent this picture of what the first initial housing would look like in the Focus City area.  These mid-rise buildings would have retail on the bottom floor with residences on the above floor.   These buildings would not have a large amount of parking.  And instead of 50 rooms, these buildings hold almost 400 units. Let me first discet this plan.  Starting with the gravel road.  Hurko mentions that while there will be a main gravel road that is 2 lanes wide, it isn't pictured here well.  If you look off to the right of the image, you see a small piece of that gravel road along with a line of trees.  Also this photo doesn't contain the 2 MW wind turbines.  I'm told that the trees will be a flowering type of tree, possibly honeysuckle trees, which bee's love.  They mention that nearby will be farms, also pictured off to the right.  On these farms will be bee farms and fruit tree farms. Off from the 2 land road, will be another...

There is no question that wind would be a good way to power Gonave.  I have wrote a few different blogs that talked about wind farms on land and in the sea.  Given Gonave's location and the strong winds that blow across the island, wind turbines are a no brainer. The wind turbines produces different amounts of power, but according to Hurko Co, a company that is proposing to build a Focus City on Gonave, the ones that could be developed would be 2 MW of power each.  The would look similar to the photo above (courtesy of earthtechling.com).  This photo was sent to be Hurko Co as a model for what they expect for Gonave.  They would build a road (most likely gravel) to connect different communities, and along the way build these large turbines. Potential grant money from the United States could be used to build these turbines over a stretch of 1 to 2 miles.  The power created would be enough to start small scale manufacturing, and even powering homes on ...

Early on in my blog writing I mentioned building reservoirs to help with Gonave's water troubles.  Wells serve a small purpose but a larger more stable piece of infrastructure would be reservoirs.  Much of the rain that falls on Gonave isn't captured, and just runs into the ocean or absorbed into the soil.  Once absorbed, wells are usually dug by NGO's.  While this is a great thing, and we encourage it, building wells is places a bandaid on a bullet wound.  Reservoirs provide a stable source of water, which can be treated, and then supplied to nearby homes and factories.  Even building a 5 acre reservoir that are a few feet deep will provide a large source of water.  Water collected from homes, buildings, etc, can then be diverted in special channels to help fill up the reservoir.  Along with the water conservation efforts I mentioned in a previous post, water will be less of a concern and issue.  When you couple this with using natura...

There are many different groups proposing how to develop Gonave, and how to develop an economy on the island.  Some use crowdfunding or investors.  Let's Build Haiti attempted this and then thought of ways to make developing Gonave a reality.  What makes Let's Build Haiti different is that it is already an established business.  We are a small brewery, which currently is creating a couple of beers that will be the signature beers of Gonave.  The purpose is that each of the beers developed will be sold, and the profits from those beers would be put into a fund.  Now how is it possible to donate 100% of money from a few beers that we develop to help with the building of Gonave?  Through corporate backers who will sponsor both beer projects, which will pay for the overhead (equipment, raw materials, shipping, etc).  We hope that from this we establish a group that will work with the Haitian Government to lease the island of Gonave for developmen...