Dec. 17, 2001 – The Crown Bay shopping development planned by two cruise lines and the Port Authority has been shopped all around the Caribbean for years, with no takers — until now on St. Thomas, according to Edward Thomas, president of The West Indian Co.
Thomas made the comment while guesting Friday on the "Leona" talk show on WVWI Radio. During the program, he got into a heated debate with Attorney General Iver Stridiron, a VIPA board member, when Stridiron called in to refute statements Thomas made about the Crown Bay development plans.
The Port Authority, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Carnival Corp. have signed a letter of intent calling for the cruise companies to lengthen the Crown Bay dock and build and operate an adjacent shopping center. No one has objected to the dock expansion, but the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce, several Charlotte Amalie retailers and property owners and Thomas oppose the shopping center, saying it could have a disastrous effect on downtown and Havensight shopping.
On Monday morning, according to informed sources, members of the boards of The West Indian Co., the Port Authority and the St. Thomas- St. John Chamber of Commerce met with Gov. Charles W. Turnbull at Government House to work on a plan whereby WICO, and not the cruise lines, would build the Crown Bay project.
Turnbull is reported to be opposed to the cruise lines' plan.
On the radio Friday, Thomas said that he had spoken with John Tercek, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines vice president for commercial development, a couple of weeks ago in San Juan, where Thomas was invited for the inauguration of RCCL's newest ship, the Adventure of the Seas. According to Thomas, Tercek told him, "I want to be a landlord just like you. Why should we bring two million people to St. Thomas, and only Virgin Island merchants get to take advantage of that market?"
Thomas said he has documented information that the cruise lines have been trying to interest Caribbean islands from Barbados up through Sint Maarten in a similar proposal since 1999, and "VIPA has been the only one to accept it."
In his call-in, Stridiron said he would like to have Tercek and Giora Israel, Carnival Corp. vice president for strategic planning, appear on the radio show and explain how the agreement would benefit the Virgin Islands. Stridiron said the agreement is intended to see that native Virgin Islanders have a piece of the action. "The two largest cruise lines in the world have said they want to partner with us," Stridiron said. "They want a long-term relationship with the V.I."
