A total of 81 per cent of the 1,700 people who voted in a poll on jerseyeveningpost.com said the former children’s home – which was at the centre of the 2008 child abuse investigation – should not be knocked down.
Nineteen per cent said the 19th-century listed building should be demolished.
The JEP ran the poll after the States launched a major consultation on whether the building should be torn down.
The public voiced their opinions following a recommendation from the Jersey Independent Care Inquiry panel that consideration should be given to demolishing the building, which it said was a ‘reminder of an unhappy past or shameful history’.
The results of the States consultation will be presented to the new Council of Ministers in July, ahead of any debate on the issue.
A number of Islanders, including abuse victims, have called for the building, which is now a hostel and activity centre, to be demolished. Shortly after the inquiry report was released last summer, Jacky de la Haye, who suffered emotional abuse at Haut de la Garenne, said the building should be knocked down and replaced with a memorial.
‘I can’t believe they use it as a centre for young people these days. They should knock it down,’ she said.
But others have said that it should stay, as knocking it down would not change the past.
And Keith Beecham, chief executive of Visit Jersey, said that demolishing Haut de la Garenne would only further reduce the amount of accommodation in the Island.
