Work has started on restoring the abandoned Admiralty House ballroom in Pembroke.

The Department of Parks and Digicel have teamed up on the project.

The clearing of overgrown vegetation and garbage by Parks workers and Digicel staff is underway.

“Admiralty House is one of Bermuda’s treasures,” said Digicel Bermuda CEO, Wayne Caines.

“I remember coming to weddings here in my youth. Unfortunately, the ballroom has fallen into disrepair and needs much work to be restored; today is only the beginning. Digicel is honoured to help the Parks Department with making this area cleaner and safer.”

The project will go through several phases, according to Digicel project manager Steven Douglas.

“Right now, we are clearing the area around the building. Next we will clean out the building itself, remove the graffiti and then board up the windows and door entrances to prevent further trespassing,” said Mr Douglas.

Admiralty House was originally set up as a signal centre by the British Royal Navy during the Second World War, intercepting coded messages from ships sailing between the US and UK and passing the messages on to the Royal Naval Dockyard.

Once the British left the Island in 1951 and the property was given back to the Bermuda Government, the primary Admiralty House building was abandoned and later demolished, leaving only the ballroom behind.

Those interested in volunteering for future phases of the project are asked to send contact details to info.bermuda@digicelgroup.com.