Located
on the Atlantic coast of western Subsaharan
Africa, Freetown, the capital of Sierra
Leone, was founded by the British in 1787
as a settlement for freed slaves from
the United States, Nova Scotia, and Great
Britain and later became a official British
colony. Upon its establishment in Freetown
in 1827, Fourah Bay College quickly became
a magnet for English-speaking Africans
on the West Coast and remained the only
European-style university in western Subsaharan
Africa for more than a century. The Old
Fourah Bay College Building was constructed
in the mid-nineteenth century to house
the university’s central administration.
The building, made of local laterite and
iron, is located in the center of the
former education complex and is owned
by the government of Sierra Leone.
The Old Fourah Bay College building
was badly damaged by fire in 1999, the
year a peace accord ended Sierra Leone’s
nine-year civil war. Only the exterior
stone shell and decorative iron entryway
survived. Over the past five years,
the roofless building has stood exposed
to the elements and slowly deteriorated.
The Old Fourah Bay College Building
and surrounding courtyards are currently
occupied by squatters.
Laboratorium–Academic Research Network
(L-ARN), a Belgian-based organization,
has launched a “Cultural Mapping” project
focusing on using urban space as places
for progressive cultural development.
Working with the government of Sierra
Leone and UNESCO, L-ARN proposes restoring
and reusing three historic buildings
in Freetown, including the Old Fourah
Bay College building, which will be
used as an arts and cultural community
center. L-ARN seeks funding to assist
with the restoration and reuse project.
