7 News Belize

Bird’s Isle: Paradise Lost, Belize’s Only Wooden Court Ruined By Earl
posted (August 8, 2016)
And while some can wait for help from Human Services and NEMO, business owners in the city have to come up with the money to rebuild their establishments. One owner who has a mammoth task ahead is Henry Young Jr. He's one of the owners of Birds Isle. That recreation facility has been around for almost 50 years and has become a sports institution - in fact, it's still the only place in Belize where you can find a wooden playing court - one that was still very much in use up until last week Tuesday. But Hurricane Earl tore up the court and trashed a section of the restaurant. Young told us today what this loss means for him and the community and what he is doing to restore his place.

Henry Young Jr., Owner - Birds Isle
"It's devastating. The whole court came crashing down. I guess due to the fact that the hurricane stayed with us 7 hours continuous blowing and it couldn't handle it. It went through Richard and many other hurricanes before, but this one it couldn't handle, so this one came crashing down. During the day especially during the summer, they use to play basketball to keep their minds off trouble and back in the days the 70s, you use to have jump up - very popular Sundays. So it's iconic."

Courtney Weatherburne
"So in that case it's not just a building or a structure falling down. This is a history?"

Henry Young Jr., Owner - Birds Isle
"Yeah, it's iconic for Belize definitely for like 47 years - from 1969 it's been up."

Courtney Weatherburne
"Tell us about the impact on your business, how has that been?"

Henry Young Jr., Owner - Birds Isle
"The balcony that lead to the top that lead to the toilet that's all gone. The flooring sank a little bit with the waves going over it. So all that we have to deal with. We are closed right now, we will be closed about 1-2 weeks. We don't really know how long it will be. We will keep the public informed when we will be open."

Young says repairing the restaurant itself will cost over $50,000. As for the court, he says even if they plan on rebuilding it, it will take time. Young says they will be closed for over 2 weeks until repairs are done.

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