Collins House to be Renovated for Museum

Collins House, a truly magnificent piece of Bahamas real estate, is to get a much needed facelift and will become a museum.
The 78-year-old former Collins mansion is located on six acres on Shirley Street in the heart of Nassau.
Centreville House was the home of Ralph Collins, a leading merchant and Member of Parliament. He died in 1946.
It was surrounded by huge tracts of real estate and much of this land today makes up the Centreville residential and business community.
Some of us at Coldwell Banker Lightbourn Realty have fond memories of the old homestead. It was the home of St. Andrew's School between 1950 and 1971 and this is where we received our early education.
This was no ordinary school house. With 35,000 square feet, it was vast. The hall had a beautiful wooden floor and was massive, the grounds huge and there were all sort of corridors and alcoves for hide n' seek.
Collins House was acquired by the government. It is occupied by the Ministry of Education and The Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation.
Built in 1931, Collins House replaced an earlier wooden home that was destroyed by the terrible Hurricane of 1929, as it is known.
Collins was an American who came to the Bahamas in 1905. His businesses interests were varied - the sponge trade, the liquor business, handicraft distributor and Bahamas real estate development.
He also was a major shareholder in the Montagu Beach Hotel (site of the Flipper series, but now demolished) and was at the forefront of the dredging of Nassau Harbour.
The restoration project will fall under the Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation (AMMC).
We're delighted that the groundwork has been laid to breathe life into this wonderful old home.