By Gerrino J. Saunders
Journal Staff Writer

The emergency hurricane shelter and community center in Central Pines, Abaco is
nearing completion just in time for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season set to
officially begin on June 1st and end on November 30th .
While on Abaco on the weekend Prime Minister Philip Davis took part in several
functions including presenting 12 Abaco families with keys to their new homes,
signing contracts for home repairs and touring the new hurricane shelter.
The shelter which is being built in collaboration with the United Nations and the
India-United Nations Development Partnership Fund is expected to withstand
category five winds up to 250 miles per hour and more.
While the timeline for completion is not confirmed, the Prime Minister indirectly
put pressure on the contractors when he said, “I expect this to be open before or in
time for the hurricane season, which means that it should be completed by the end
of May.”
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season set to officially begin on June 1 st and ends on
November 30 th .
“With the onslaught of climate change and how we are having so many hurricanes
each year and the intensity of those hurricanes, the concern is to ensure that lives
are saved and livelihoods are protected,” said the Prime Minister.
Mr. Davis admitted that he is not able to give a final cost on the building that
began with the ground breaking in December 2020 with a price tag of $1.4 million
but in 2024 following a redesign and several structural setbacks the cost ballooned
to $4.8 million.
The Prime Minister also expressed his satisfaction with the quality of work on the
shelter by the Bahamian contractor Wilkem Solutions, and the Project Manager,
Chris Symonette and Associates. He said. Bahamians are building this and I am
proud to see the product of our Bahamian ingenuity and skill.”
This shelter is anticipated to be a prototype for the future design and
construction of shelters in The Bahamas. The building is being constructed

under a new building code that calls for its structure – doors, windows, roof
to withstand category five hurricane force winds.

However, the shelter suffered a major setback in 2024 when 50 percent of the
trusses in the middle section of the roof collapsed between Saturday night August
31 st and the early morning of Sunday September 1 st.
However, some architects like veteran Michael Foster expressed concern with the
design especially the large number of windows incorporated in the building and the
foundation not being built high enough to withstand storm surges like those during
Hurricane Dorian which the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration
estimated reached upwards to 23 feet.
He suggested consideration should have been given to building the shelter on
pilings.
Sunday September 1st 2025 will mark the 6th anniversary of Hurricane Dorian from
2019 which generated sustained winds up to 180 mph and wind gusts above 200
mph and it stalled just north of Grand Bahama for 34 devastating hours.