Accra, Sept. 28, GNA - The United States (US) Embassy on Friday awarded a grant of 50,000 dollars to the Oguaa Traditional Council (OTC) to restore and preserve the historic Gothic House in Cape Coast.
The facility, which would be managed by the Oguaa Traditional Council, would house a library and a museum that would collect and preserve cultural artefacts of the people in the area as well as on the slave trade.
The Gothic House has a special historical significance. It was originally constructed as a private residence in the 1800s by a private citizen of Cape Coast and later served as a trading post. Ms Pamela E. Bridgewater, US Ambassador in Ghana, signed the agreement with Osabarima Nana Kwesi Atta II, Paramount of the Oguaa Traditional Area.
Ms Bridgewater said the restoration of the house would help the people understand the missing link in the slave trade and the role played by indigenous traders who lived within 500 yards from the Cape Coast Castle, which is a world heritage site today.
She said the restoration work of the facility would take twelve months and upon completion would serve as a social, cultural and administrative centre.
The Embassy also has plans to organise cultural and educational exchange programmes at the site to enhance mutual understanding among the people of the two countries, she said.
"It is our hope that the Osabarima and his council of elders will consider setting up a research and resource centre within the restored Gothic House to allow visitors from the Diaspora to conduct research about their ancestors" she added.
The US Embassy in 2004 awarded a grant of 25,000 dollars to the Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture for the preservation and restoration of Dr Du Bois personal library and papers.
Again in 2005, the Embassy awarded 29,450 dollars to the Institute for Music and Development in Ho to preserve, digitise and document traditional Ewe music and dance rituals from the Volta Region, birthplace of renowned Ghanaian patriots and musicians. Ms Bridgewater also noted that since 2001, the United States Congress authorised the Department of State and US Embassies to implement the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation by supporting projects that preserved cultural heritage in host countries to enable posterity to learn about their own countries.
Osabarima Nana Kwesi Atta commended the US government for its support to restore the Gothic House, which he said, would go along way to preserve the cultural heritage of the people. He said the traditional council had already initiated something on its own to restore that house and expressed the hope that the grant would boost this effort.
