The Bermuda National Trust has expressed sadness at the news that Victoria Row in Dockyard is set to be demolished.

Landowners, the West End Development Corporation (Wedco), has said that it has exhausted all avenues trying to find investment or a developer for the old, dilapidated buildings.

However, executive director Jennifer Gray told The Royal Gazette the Trust believed it was better to repair and reuse than knock down structures like Victoria Row.

“The Trust is keenly interested in the preservation of buildings which make up the historic fabric of the Dockyard,” she said.

“We are always saddened when they are allowed to fall into disrepair and believe it is better to repair and reuse what is there than to knock buildings down. These buildings are very much a part of the ambience of Dockyard and a part of Bermuda’s heritage.”

Victoria Row is part of the old Dockyard “town” that included schools, a hospital, theatre, stores and a post office and supplied the technical expertise and labour to run the giant industrial complex. Today, only a few buildings survive in usable condition to represent that thriving community.

Victoria and Albert Rows are the last remaining examples of the housing built for Dockyard tradesmen or artisans and their families. Other, similar rows — Portland Place, Princess Louise Terrace, Clarence Terrace, and Marine Terrace at Lodge Point — have all been demolished.