Lauralie de Weever named
patron of Fort Amsterdam
~ Trails cut, info signs added ~
LITTLE BAY--“Sitting here, I remember about how the signals on the fort were for the ships coming into the bay,” reminisced Armanta de Weever, the only surviving child of Lauralie de Weever (1897-1968), Fort Amsterdam’s last signal master.
The elderly Armanta and some offspring of her four siblings were at the fort Tuesday afternoon for Lauralie’s dedication as Matron of Fort Amsterdam in a special ceremony that also marked the completion of the first phase of the fort restoration and heritage park project.
Armanta, who last lived at the fort in 1967 in the signal master’s house, which is still standing, is glad and proud that her childhood home is being restored and is accessible to locals and visitors.
Smiling and speaking about her best memories of the fort, Armanta, the mother of well-known businessman Vidal de Weever, said, “There was lots to eat and drink. We had good times together. There wasn’t even a radio in those days so we had each other.”
A very emotional Vidal said that after his grandmother had left the fort, which had been his home for the first 18 years of his life, “it went dead.” The 271-year-old fort was “my playground and the dance hall of St. Maarten,” he said adding that it had been the one place people could obtain bootleg rum made by his grandmother.
In his speech, Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards told of his time at the fort as a boy. “I remember coming up here after Sunday School. If we were lucky and the girls came along we got to hold hands.” The fort is an important part of the island’s history and should and must be preserved and protected, he said.
The De Weever family were the last residents on the peninsula that juts out into Great Bay. The Voice of St. Maarten Radio Network broadcast from the fort for several years before moving to Philipsburg.
The fort was left unattended for many years and was overgrown by thorn bushes and grass. A group of high school students attached to St. Maarten Archaeological Centre Simarc led by its director Dr. Jay Haviser began clearing and mapping the fort last year as a small assignment.
As the importance of the historical landmark became clearer to the youngsters and interest grew, Haviser seized the opportunity to mount a full scale restoration with the aim of converting the area into a heritage park.
With the support of the fort’s owner, Divi Little Bay Beach Resort, the team of students and Haviser cleared the obscured fort walls and cut trails along them. To complete the effect, Simarc received money for informational signs from Prins Bernhard Fund. Signage was placed at various locations in the fort to inform visitors about the ruins’ use and other pertinent facts.
Celebrating the completion of the first phase of the project, Haviser told the gathering at the fort that included Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams and National Alliance Island Councilman George Pantophlet it was now on to the next step, which would require strong support from the community. The bastions, surrounding walls, cannons and mounts are in need of repair and preservation, for which funding is required.
With Divi Resort playing a leading role in the private input of the heritage park project, Haviser hopes other businesses will do the same to protect and save this part of the island’s history and heritage.
He also called for input from the government to restore the two houses used by the De Weever family that are on a 20-metre by 20-metre plot of land, the only land belonging to government on the peninsula.
He commended the students for their drive and interest in the island’s history and heritage, an interest that is not very popular among youngsters.
Divi Assistant Manager Sophia Brookes expressed the resort’s continued support for the project and its “commitment to preserve the fort” for posterity.
