May 16, 2003 – The Port Authority issued its first public report Friday on the pier expansion and related land development under way at the Crown Bay dock, along with the accompanying artist's rendering of the planned cruise port project.
American Bridge Co., the contractor for the project, began site clearing for the pier expansion in early April. The building that housed the restaurant Ruby's by the Sea has been razed, the guard booths and a decorative fence at the pier entrance have been removed, and excavation has begun for expansion of the northern side of the dock, a VIPA release stated..
VIPA is putting the price tag for the project at about $28 million and says that the development is targeted for completion by April 2004.
That's only six months later than was projected a year ago by the man perhaps most responsible for seeing the undertaking from planning to implementation.
Gordon Finch, the Port Authority's executive director from 1991 until his retirement at the end of last year, said in an interview last May, shortly after announcing his plans to step down, that "we are going to be in construction by fall" of 2002. Furthermore, he said, "The dock and the land site business will be in operation by the start of the next cruise ship year — by October 2003."
What's being planned
The pier, which currently extends 200 feet on one side and 500 feet on the other, is being expanded to a length of more than 900 feet on both sides. "This extension will allow some of the largest cruise vessels in use and under construction to berth at Crown Bay," the release stated.
The land development is of a "mixed-use facility" that is "to be utilized for commercial purposes." Situated on six acres, it will total about 57,000 square feet.
Occupying some 3,500 square feet of the complex will be a combined visitor center and "environmental/historical interpretive resources center" that will be operated by the Tourism and Planning and Natural Resources Departments.
The Port Authority plans to lease 60 percent of the available commercial space "to businesses serving local residents" and the other 40 percent "to businesses serving visitors."
The design plans for the complex call for "a village-type setting and West Indian architecture," a waterfront promenade and a replica of a sugar mill. The commercial mix is to include "a variety of restaurants," a communications center and a crew-service facility. There will be off-street parking at the site.
American Bridge Co., an Orlando, Florida, construction firm, is simultaneously constructing the Enighed Pond commercial port on St. John. (See "St. John port targeted for July 2004 completion".)
How the planning went
For Finch, an engineer, the Crown Bay development was probably the highest-profile project on his desk for three years.
Beginning in 1999, a public-private V.I. task force created by the 23rd Legislature worked with the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association and its 13 member lines to produce what became known as the Long-Term Operating Agreement. All of the parties had signed the agreement by August of 2001 except for Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, who did so that October.
Aimed at increasing the volume of passengers visiting the territory, the agreement included a provision for VIPA to select a cruise line or lines "to undertake seaside and land-based projects that would commit to the incremental passenger flow" that would enable VIPA to finance the Crown Bay dock expansion.
In August 2001, VIPA signed a letter of intent with Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises for the two companies to invest $31 million in expanding the dock and developing an adjacent shopping area. The plan sparked protests from the business community, which feared the loss of customers downtown and at Havensight Mall, and from The West Indian Co., which saw it giving the two cruise lines, which would have berthing priority at Crown Bay, control of the harbor.
In March 2002, from Miami Beach, where he was attending the annual Seatrade convention, the governor announced that he would "instruct" the Port Authority to call off the deal with the cruise lines. He also said he had "instructed" WICO and VIPA "to work together" on expanding and developing the Crown Bay port facilities "in order to accommodate the growing needs of the cruise lines."
The need for additional berthing to meet anticipated demand was not disputed. The West Indian Co. dock could accommodate only three large cruise ships, and on busy port-of-call days some vessels had no choice but to anchor in the inner or outer harbor and tender passenger to and from shore.
WICO owns and operates its dock in Long Bay. The Port Authority owns the Crown Bay dock.
The governor's instructions notwithstanding, the VIPA board voted not to work with WICO but to take the Crown Bay development on alone. It voted in December to issue about $18 million in non-taxable bonds to expand the dock, and another $17 million in taxable bonds to construct an adjacent retail center. At the same meeting, the board approved bunkering — the taking on of fuel — for cruise ships and shipping companies from barges at the Crown Bay dock.
Last July, VIPA received Senate approval of a Coastal Zone Management major permit for the pier expansion and approval of the commercial development based on a 1983 Crown Bay master plan. The League of Women Voters challenged the validity of the master plan, noting that no public hearings had been held on it and the Senate had never ratified it; the league also questioned the adequacy of an environmental impact assessment. In January the Board of Land Use Appeals rejected these arguments.
In the interview last May, Finch said the VIPA board's decision to undertake the Crown Bay project on its own didn't mean the matter had been laid to rest. "There will be melee all the way up to the construction and beyond," he predicted.
That hasn't proven to be the case. But the construction is just getting under way.
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