Dear Source:
I wanted to put forward my opinion that a new hotel such as proposed [see March 20 Source main page story titled "PFA pushes for new St. Croix hotel"] should go on the property of the Randall "Doc" James Race Track west of the course along the airport road. If the government is to support it financially, the hotel should be constructed on government land so that the cost goes directly to the island collectively rather than to one of its individual landowners.
The location would help support the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport expansion and the proposed freight transshipment park. The Public Finance Authority has cited airport support as the impetus for hotel construction. On-track betting is in decline, making the race track less desirable as a stand-alone operation. The new hotel could feature a "Casper Holstein" theater with live international off-track betting, which offers a variety of racing events a much healthier format, according to Forbes magazine
In response to my previous Open Forum article on this subject [see Jan. 10, 2001, Source letter titled "Excise taxes whould go into special trust"], I was told that the sewage treatment plant east of the race track can often be smelled from the airport. My response is that sewage plant improvements could be made and that the hotel design could face the rooms toward a sealed atrium and be air-conditioned.
Richard Bond
St. Croix
