After years of talk and last year’s premature ribbon cutting and ground breaking by former Gov. Roy Schneider, the extension of downtown Christiansted’s boardwalk is a step closer to reality.
On Thursday, the Senate’s Committee on Planning and Environmental Protection approved the V.I. government’s Coastal Zone Management permit to extend the boardwalk from where it ends in King’s Alley 1,450 feet west toward the Holger Danske Hotel.
According to Neil Watson, special projects coordinator for the Office of the Governor, the project will cost approximately $1.7 million and be funded by the Federal Highway Administration. He said a contractor, R&R Caribbean, has already been approved.
"As soon as this (permit) is passed, we can issue a notice to proceed," Watson said. "I can’t say when it will start. According to Public Works, the money has already been committed for the project by the Federal Highway Administration."
The chairman of the committee on Planning and Environmental Protection, Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, said it has the authority to ratify the permit, meaning it will go directly to Gov. Charles Turnbull rather than the full Senate for final approval.
About a year ago, Schneider held a public ceremony on the waterfront announcing the start of the project. At that point, the former commissioner of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources had submitted a minor coastal zone management permit for the extension.
But Watson said that such a permit has a $75,000 limit, therefore a more involved major coastal zone permit was required. More than a year later, in which public hearings on the project were held and easements with property owners finalized, the permit was voted on in committee.
Because of the length of the process, though, Sens. David Jones and Almondo "Rocky" Liburd said they were concerned that the cost of the project may now exceed the allotted federal funding.
If that happens, said Watson, the federal government won’t pay for the additional costs.
"There is a possibility that we may have to utilize another source of funding to augment" the construction, Watson said.
He said the V.I. government would most likely have to use the balance of the $1 million St. Croix Economic Development Bond issued in 1994. Watson estimated that to be approximately $500,000.
"I’m assuming it’s still there," he said.
Phase Two of the boardwalk project would extend the wooden walkway from the Holger Danske Hotel to the seaplane building near Watergut. Phase Three would see the boardwalk extend east from near the King Christian Hotel toward Lobster Lane in Gallows Bay. Those projects, however, would need additional funding and permits.
"I do believe this particular project is an important part of our plan to invest in the infrastructure of St. Croix," said Jones. "It will serve as a critical mass of the development of the King’s Alley area."
The committee also approved a CZM permit for the reconstruction of a dock at the soon-to-be opened Divi Carina Bay Resort located on Grapetree Bay. Although there was lengthy debate on technical aspects of the permit, it was approved.
Leroy Arnold, representative for the developer of the hotel, Grapetree Shores Inc., said the resort’s opening date is slated for September of October. The permit allows the reconstruction of a 28-by-13-foot dock with a 69-by-9-foot approach walkway that was destroyed in Hurricane Hugo in 1989. The permit also allows for two swim platforms and swim buoys to be placed in the bay adjacent to the hotel.
Committee members Sens. Donastorg, Liburd, Donald Cole and Jean Baptiste voted in favor of the permits. Jones is not a committee member.
