Milk River Bath and Spa Hotel Renovation in September 2015 - How Milk River marks prosperity for South West Clarendon

“This rehabilitation is the beginning of an exercise that will, in the medium term, contribute to the strategic brand positioning of this historic national attraction, with its unique mineral waters. It is expected to increase the revenue earning potential of Milk River Bath and Spa by enhancing its aesthetic appeal, expanding its range of services and increasing its marketability”

Tourism Minister Dr Wykeham McNeill during the signing of a contract on Wednesday September 2nd 2015 to restore the West Wing of the Milk River Hotel and Spa

Happy times are coming again to the Milk River Hotel and Spa in Milk River, Clarendon!!

This as the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment on Wednesday September 2^nd 2015 had signed a JA$50 million contract to restore the West Wing of the Milk River Hotel and Spa as reported in the article “Milk River Hotel And Spa To Get Upgrade”, published Thursday September 3, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

The contract was awarded to C&D Construction and Engineering Company Limited and will start on Monday September 7^th 2015 as reported in the article “Milk River Bath & Spa to undergo major renovation”, published Thursday, September 03, 2015 by Kimmo Matthews, The Jamaica Observer. 

The work on the West Wing of the Milk River Hotel and Spa, is expected to be finished by December 2015. C&D Construction and Engineering Company Limited work will mainly focus on the following:

1.      Demolition and alterations

2.      Upgrading of the electrical and plumbing systems, ceiling and floor

3.      Painting and decorating

4.      Replacement of leaking and damaged roof sheeting and frame

C&D Construction and Engineering Company Limited  is very privileged to have won the JA$50 million contract to work on the property that boasts some twenty (20) rooms, nine (9) mineral baths and a mineral pool. However, due to the severely dilapidated state of the infrastructure, only thirteen (13) of the hotel rooms can be occupied.

C&D Construction and Engineering Company Limited - Working to make Jamaica more than Sea and Sand

So many are quite pleased that the 221-year-old property is finally getting some renovation, especially given its status globally! The spa is reputed to have healing powers, with many having claiming to have been relieved form the pain of the following diseases:

1.      Gout

2.      Liver disorders

3.      Lumbago

4.      Nerve conditions

5.      Neuralgia

6.      Rheumatism

7.      Sciatica

This renewed interest signals the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment's move away from Jamaica as merely a destination of Sea and sand towards one focused on health and wellness tourism, to quote General Manager of the facility, Diane Sommerville: “Too much potential is in this place for us not to make use of it and ecotourism is a good way to start. Make it a place for the perfect getaway, not like so many others, which are about sun, sea and sand, but a place where persons can be at one with nature. We can make it into a nice little south-coast getaway”.  

General Manager of the facility, Diane Sommerville hopes that along with renovating the West Wing, they’ll also include renovation to the Mineral Baths as well as the Building itself. This as the Lobby and Spa area are in need of a modern-day makeover to bring the entire property up to an international standard.

But what's so special about the Milk River Hotel and Spa? And does this mean that more work will be done for the Community of Milk River overall?

Milk River Bath and Spa Hotel Renovation coming - How Milk River will mark the return of prosperity to South West Clarendon

I certainly hope so.

I call Rest Square, Milk River my home away from home, as I return here every Summer to get away from the hustle and bustle of City life in Kingston.

The Milk River Bath and Spa Hotel is located (Wikipedia, 2014, November 21) some 3.22 km (2 miles) South of the village of Milk River or 19.31km  (12 miles) South of the A2 road at Toll Gate. The Milk River, so called because it turns milk white whenever the river is in spate, is 100m away on the opposite side of the roads facing the Milk River Bath and Spa Hotel.

The baths are open 24 hours a day to hotel guests (Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment, 2014) and 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and the public mineral water swimming pool open on the weekends. There are two (2) springs with the Milk River Bath and Spa Hotel with the water of the second being fit for drinking.

The road to Milk River is littered with pot holes and is badly in need of repair and although the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) via the NWA (National Works Agency) repairs the roads, they eventually become damaged again after heavy rains. These pictures below are those of Milk River take when they were damaged.

After visitors drive down through York Town, past Parnassus and then Crooks Gate and finally make the turn pass Gimme-me-Bit, you'll basically arrive in a three way Y-junction called Rest Square. From there, you just keep driving straight until you see the Milk River on your left and the Milk River Bath and Spa Hotel on your right.

Milk River is a place that is the stuff of legends.

According to local folklore, the bath was discovered by a slave who'd escaped from a plantation owner named Jonathan Ludford who'd beaten him severely. The slave ran away and in hiding out in the wilderness, he'd take a bath in the mineral spring. Noting that his wounds had miraculously healed, he oddly returned to the slave master, Jonathan Ludford.

So shocked was he at this miracle that he allegedly promised the slave freedom from punishment if he showed him the secret location of the mineral spring.

Not sure how it all worked out for the slave, but Jonathan Ludford used the mineral spring until his death. At that point, the Government of Jamaica was gifted the lands and the mineral spring located on the property and by 1974, the Milk River Bath and Spa Hotel was opened to the public.

Its healing powers are in doubt, but the bath itself has a radioactivity of 16 millicurries per litre.

This puts it the top tier of mineral baths, as at that level of radioactivity (Jamaica Travel and Culture, 2010), it's more 50 times the radioactivity of the waters of Vichy in France and 54 times the radioactivity of the Mineral bath in Baden in Switzerland.

So its repair is vital to the long term future of Milk River and the surrounding community as a whole. Hopefully, they'll also resuscitate the Spring Plains as renovation of this farming kibbutz will hand that political party a handy victory in the South West Clarendon as explained in my blog article entitled “South Coast developement in Clarendon necessary for JLP victory”. 

Here's the link:

Milk River Hotel and Spa  

Milk River Bath and Spa  

Milk River Bath

References:

1.      Jamaica Travel and Culture. (2010). Milk River Bath and Spa. Retrieved from http://www.jamaicatravelandculture.com/destinations/clarendon/milk-river-bath.htm

2.      Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment. (2014). Milk River Hotel and Spa. Retrieved from http://www.mot.gov.jm/content/milk-river-hotel-and-spa

3.      Wikipedia. (2014, November 21). Milk River Bath. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_River_Bath