Work has begun on improvements to the western section of Water Street in St.

George's, marking another milestone of the St. George's Town Heritage Plan.

This follows improvements completed last year to the eastern section of Water Street, and will, as before include the laying of brick paving to replace the existing tarmac, the installation of period street lighting and the introduction of shade planting: the undergrounding of overhead utility cables has already been completed by Belco, BTC and Cablevision, enabling work on the paving to begin.

These improvements, scheduled to finish in the spring, will herald the successful conclusion of another project set out in the St. George's Town Heritage Town Plan: "Bringing History To Life.'' Work is being completed by the Corporation of St. George's and has been made possible by funding coordinated by The St. George's Foundation.

Louis Mowbray, chairperson of The St. George's Foundation, said: "We're immensely grateful to the landowners along Water Street whose valuable contributions have enabled work to be started on the remaining sector of Water Street and to the Corporation and the utility companies for once again helping us to see the plans through to fruition. Our fundraising endeavours are continuing and we hope to be in a position to announce the scheduling of further improvements to the Town shortly.'' Mayor of St. George's, Louis M. R. Perinchief, added: "The Corporation is pleased to be moving ahead with the improvements to our streets. We look forward to having Water Street completed before the cruise ships arrive, especially since this is one of the Town's main thoroughfares.

These improvements will mark the completion of the whole of this area -- Water Street and Customs House Square. We are grateful once again to The St.

George's Foundation for their support in raising the necessary funds.'' Since its inauguration in 1997, The St. George's Foundation has been raising funds through private-public partnerships, working in conjunction with Government, the utility companies and the Corporation of St. George's who, collectively, have been responsible for a number of restoration projects in St. George's including Barber Alley, Custom House Square, Featherbed Alley, Pilot Darrell's Square, Pound Alley, Taylor's Alley, Water Street East and the creation of Smith's Garden.