Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham yesterday officially opened and dedicated the new Cecil Wallace-Whitfield Centre on West Bay Street which is now the home of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). In attendance were Vincent Wallace-Whitfield, son of Sir Cecil and his widow, Lady Naomi Wallace-Whitfield.

 "My first government was pleased to rename the former Hotel Corporation Building at Cable Beach in honor of Sir Cecil in September 1992," Ingraham told a jubilant crowd on the grounds of the building. "We are doubly pleased now for the opportunity to name and dedicate this new center in his honor and memory."

 Sir Cecil was among the founding fathers of the Free National Movement (FNM).  He died in 1990. Ingraham spent most of his speech pointing to Sir Cecil's contributions, even referring to a crowd of people bused to the opening as 'Cecilites'.

 "Sir Cecil would be pleased that 45 years after he helped to bring about majority rule, and approximately 40 years after he helped to form the Free National Movement, the country he loved and the party to which he devoted his considerable energies, continue to flourish," Ingraham said.

 The Office of the Prime Minister was relocated to make way for the construction of the new Baha Mar resorts. "We sold the original Cecil Wallace-Whitfield building and site to Baha Mar resorts for some $17.686 million and acquired these premises from S.G. Hambros for some $13 million," he said. The prime minister said that extensive work had begun on the grounds toward a creation of a Bahamian garden that would feature native flora and hardwood trees. "In time, we hope to include appropriate public art installations in these gardens," he said.

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