Gov. Charles Turnbull is scheduled to move out of his rental house in Estate Elizabeth and back into his official residence on Denmark Hill this weekend.
The governor's home, known as Catherineberg, was closed last spring when health-threatening bacteria were found to be flourishing in it.
The Virgin Islands acquired the historic property as part of its purchase of the West Indian Co. from Denmark. It previously was the Danish consulate.
"It's not completely ready," WICO spokesman Calvin Wheatley said Saturday. But the governor "wants to get out of the place" that WICO has been renting for him before Nov. 1.
Turnbull has taken some heat for spending $7,000 a month to rent the lavish northside estate owned by Tana Mullendore. Although the rental is temporary and WICO picks up the bill, critics say it's all government money in the end.
Wheatley, reached at his home, could not say how much the renovations are expected to cost, how much has been spent so far or just what still has to be done.
In early April Edward Thomas, WICO's chief executive, said the WICO board had approved spending up to $350,000 for the renovations to Catherineberg. He said then that WICO had leased the Estate Elizabeth property for six months, which would account for Turnbull's desire to vacate the rental home by Nov. 1.
Perina Jacobs-McBrowne, Government House spokeswoman, said renovations probably will be completed while Turnbull is living at Catherineberg. Given his busy schedule, including a weekend trip to St. Croix for an ecological conference, she said it will be a squeeze for him to make the move by Monday, but that's his intention.
