PORTCULLIS LIMITED
A non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental, exempt corporation

    Portcullis Limited is a non-stock Virginia corporation; exempt from Federal taxes under sections 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(2) of the US Internal Revenue Code. The corporation was founded in response to the need for a not-for-profit organisation to assist the third-world nations of the Eastern Caribbean, among others, in the sustainable development of their antique fortifications for tourism. Given that many small island developing states can ill-afford to improve their historic sites because of a limited tax base and the continuous requirement to provide basic human services for their populations, our efforts are meant to produce tourist attractions which not only attract tourists, but offer them a greater educational and entertainment value for their money than has been experienced heretofore. The more important result is to provide meaningful, long-term jobs for Grenada’s elderly, unskilled youth and single mothers who will be able bring their children to work. There is no better way to fight dependence and poverty than to provide jobs to those who need them.

    The intention of this novel partnership is to restore old Fort George, St. George’s, Grenada, West Indies (built as Fort Royal by the French between 1705-1710) and operate it as a visitor venue with two constituencies in mind. One group is the hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors who already come to Grenada each year. Those visitors bring a portion of their disposable income to the region with the express purpose of disposing of it. Their needs are like those of any traveler; to find something which they consider worth seeing, worth doing and more importantly, worth buying, all of which must be novel and different from what they find at home. An original 18th century fort is certainly different.

    The second constituency is the citizens of Grenada who face an entrenched unemployment rate of at least 15 percent in an employable population of less than 50,000. Grenadians merely want the opportunity to work in their own country and in a field where they can welcome guests to their nation while preserving their own patrimony. There is also something positive about the possibility of earning a living in a building whose original purpose was to protect someone else’s economic interest.

    Portcullis Ltd. plans to bring these two groups together for the benefit of both, by developing the largest man-made structure in Grenada, an 18th century asset unique in the Western hemisphere, and of the type which has been proven to appeal to hundred of thousands of tourists in North America. As an example, the two privately managed forts in the United States that we mentioned before, Fort Ticonderoga and Old Fort Niagara, both in New York State, each entertain and educate an average of 100,000 visitors during what is essentially a 6 month season. Whatever her problems, Grenada, at 12 degrees north latitude, has never been closed for the winter.

    For our part, Portcullis is not driven by the profit motive and therefore does not have to repatriate revenue to overseas investors or stockholders, because there are none. With your help we can use Fort George’s earnings in country for the operation and maintenance of the fort, while spending the anticipated surplus for the preservation of Grenada’s other endangered historic sites and for other charitable works. We are determined that at least a few of the priceless buildings of the world will not be allowed to deteriorate through a lack of effort on our part; especially when they can be saved by well-trained local restorers and maintained through visitation.  Join us!

Information last updated: 20 April, 2005 Ó Portcullis Limited. USA 1999 - 2003 - 2005