FOLLOWING the heated debate surrounding the statue of Sally Bassett comes news that a new park is set to be developed on the western side of the City Hall property.

Wesley Park, named after the street bordering the proposed area, will replace the cycle parking area that currently exists on the corner of Wesley and Church Streets.

The cycle parking will be moved across the street in the alleyway near the entrance to the shop Kit 'n' Kaboodle.

Complete with seating areas and a shaded courtyard, the location rests on the original site where the Theatre Boycott took place, a watershed event that began the unravelling of institutionalised racism in Bermuda.

The two-week standoff forced theatre, restaurant and hotel owners to end racial segregation at their establishments and the site of the park is situated directly opposite the old Island Theatre, where the Dorchester Building now stands.

To commemorate the event, the Corporation of Hamilton commissioned local sculptor Chesley Trott, 78, to create a sculpture that is to be the central focal feature of the park. The piece, entitled "When Voices Rise", has been finished and is currently sitting in storage waiting for the park to be completed.

According to Corporation Secretary Edward Benevides, the park will be unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the Theatre Boycott – June 2009 – as requested by the Progressive Group, which organised the protest a half-century ago on June 15, 1959.

"While we could probably have developed the site earlier, we wanted to honour the request of the Progressive Group and Glenn Fubler to unveil the park on the anniversary," he said.

According to Mr. Benevides, the budget has been approved for the park for some time and that the parties did agree that there would be a "soft opening" prior to the official unveiling so that people could enjoy the park during their lunch hours or to take a break while shopping in Hamilton.

A separate sculpture, also commissioned by the Corporation and created by Mr. Trott, is currently in New York waiting to be resized and cast in bronze.

The sculpture, called "We Arrive", is a semi-abstract piece that portrays the landing of the first slaves to arrive in Bermuda.

The piece depicts five men showing a range of emotions and thoughts.

According to Mr. Trott, the finished product is estimated to be eight feet high and some three feet wide.

"I envisioned the different emotions the men must have felt as they stepped off the boat for the first time," said Mr. Trott, who has been sculpting for more than 60 years and is most well known for his eight-foot wooden sculpture at the L.F. Wade International Airport.

The project, started by former Corporation Secretary Kelly Miller, was commissioned to honour the arrival of the first slaves to arrive on the island's shores, which is believed to be at Barr's Bay Park in Hamilton.

The sculpture is also unofficially known as the "Middle Passage", as the first slaves to Bermuda were part of the forcible journey of African people from Africa to the Americas.

Historians estimate that 1.5 million Africans died during the harrowing trip from either sickness of suicide and those who made it to land, ended up as slaves to wealthy landowners.

The sculpture is to be placed in Barr's Bay Park in but it it not yet known when it will be installed.

According to Mr. Benevides, the sculpture should arrive in Bermuda within the next several months.