Jack Sprat reopens in Treasure Beach

There can be no conversation about Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth, without a mention of Jakes, a world-renowned hotel situated on the edge of the coastline, and Jack Sprat, the restaurant “considered the headquarters of eating and drinking in Treasure Beach”. The property is also the venue for the very popular Calabash International Literary Festival, last held in May, and is owned and operated by the Henzell family.

When on July 3 last year, Category 4 Hurricane Beryl breezed strongly by the south coast of Jamaica, leaving much infrastructural damage in the south-western parishes, Jack Sprat and Jakes were bumped and thumped, but life went on, despite the associated financial losses.

Then, on October 28, just one year and two months on the road to recovery, Jack Sprat and Jakes received a double whammy from Category 5 Hurricane Melissa. Though the damage at Jack Sprat was not extensive, infrastructurally, Jakes’ accommodations sustained various levels of destruction, some very significant.

When The Gleaner visited on November 10, the space was still strewn with debris, much of which were pieces from the buildings and fallen plants, and the area in which the literary festival is held every two years, too, was not spared Melissa’s wrath. Yet, the Henzell family, Sally, Justine, Jason and other relatives, are not waiting on time.

Like the phoenix, Jakes and Jack Sprat are rising from Melissa’s dust. Jack Sprat reopened on November 11. “We knew that it would be important to the entire community of Treasure Beach for Jack Sprat to reopen, so we could have some hot meals, some cold drinks and listen to some music; for people to charge their phones, and to get on the Starlink. The staff was so determined. So, we opened up exactly two weeks after the hurricane,” Jason Henzell told The Gleaner via telephone.

The full menu - shrimp, fish, crab, lobster, pizza, chicken, et cetera - was back on the table, and there were “a lot of community people, a lot of relief workers, people from non-governmental organisations, mainly from America, organisations like All Hands & Hearts, Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), and the Global Empowerment Mission”, Henzell said. “All these persons were happy to know that there was a place where they could come and meet as a community, see people [and] hear music. So it was a jubilant and joyful occasion.”

It was also very much about the livelihood of the staff, many of whom were hired back to do some clean-up, and employed back to Jack Sprat. Some were “transitioned” to do construction work with three construction companies working on the property. Everyone had agreed to be flexible, Henzel said, so there is staff rotation at Jack Sprat and with the construction companies.

As it relates to Jakes, the reopening is scheduled for December 18. “Jakes will not be perfect on December 18, but we know that we will be proud of what we would have achieved because the staff is really going all out, in full force,” he said.

Incidentally, on November 20, Treasure Cot, a three-bedroom cottage at Calabash Bay that sustained minor damage during Hurricane Melissa, was reopened and occupied. It was the first accommodation to be opened by Henzell’s grandparents in 1941. The occupants have volunteered to participate in the recovery process and have brought with them relevant items.

lifestyle@gleanerjm.com