Todd Hill, Vice President of EDAW (Atlanta), recently announced that the urban design and landscape-planning firm will be following up its string of innovative redevelopment proposals in Eleuthera, Clifton Cay, and downtown Nassau and harbour with a master plan for revitalising Cable Beach. The group, in partnership with the Baha Mar Development consortium of major US and European investors, plans to turn the strip into a billion-dollar “resort campus” of strong global brands designed around the local Bahamian and broader Caribbean cultural context.
“Job creation is a big driver for this project, both during and post construction,” said Hill during a presentation at the Rotary Club of East Nassau last week. “Cable Beach is an ambitious and exciting development in a great location, and we embraced the opportunity of moving away from a strip resort, with a series of hotels along the roadway, and instead coming up with a plan that proposes a cohesive multi-resort campus.” The plan calls for West Bay Street to be diverted significantly south of its current route, extending Gladstone Road with a connection at John F Kennedy Drive. Government offices, banks, and the straw market now situated opposite the resort strip will be relocated to a well-placed high-end retail entertainment and commercial district. According to Hill, the realigned West Bay Street will feature lush landscaping along the verge and the median and will include a new multi-use jogger’s path designed to accommodate joggers and pedestrians.
Calling proper planning a key ingredient in guaranteeing the success of the proposed Cable Beach project, Hill, a designer and land planner with the intercontinental EDAW group since 1984, said Baha Mar painstakingly assessed the economic, land use and social development patterns impacting the sustainability of its billion-dollar proposal, which is still under review by the government. Hill said: “EDAW has a strong philosophy about green development, that is, our plans are based on renewable resources; so construction and operations both incorporate environmentally sensitive designs from the start.” EDAW and Baha Mar representatives went to great lengths to meet with leading Bahamian cultural advocates, architects, historians, and environmentalists to gain insight for the proposed design, Hill explained, adding that presentations from these individuals, including Junkanoo enthusiast Arlene Nash Ferguson, and BREEF Managing Director Casuarina McKinney during an intense ‘Bahamas 101’ seminar provided awareness of Bahamian cultural celebrations and native marine life preservation, respectively.
“These are all things that weigh in on what we’re doing here, and I applaud the developers for allowing us to have that kind of interface with the experts in the country.
We’re interested in authenticity ﾖ something that is based in reality and can be traced through some sort of natural cultural lineage,” Hill said. “We’re not going to create a resort environment based on a fantastical, theoretical place. The campus will be based on Bahamian culture. Junkanoo will be celebrated here. The authenticity of the place will be key and will be featured through artisans, musicians, entertainment, cuisine, arts and craft, and the resort’s architectural design.”
The Cable Beach development proposal is EDAW’s fourth in The Bahamas ﾖ they were involved in Disney’s Castaway Cay and Clifton Heritage Park. The company was founded in 1939 and first made local headlines during the first half of 2004 when it was commissioned to submit redevelopment plans for projects on two major Bahamian islands. Six months after reaching an agreement with Government in January to produce a comprehensive plan for the island of Eleuthera, the group also selected New Providence as the site of its 2004 Summer Intern Programme with a focus on immediate and long-term developmental opportunities for transforming Bay Street.
“We are very fortunate to be part of the new direction by the government in proactively planning the future of the country,” Hill said of the Bay Street and Eleuthera projects. “We are creating a unified overall vision instead of taking an ad hoc approach; this makes it possible to lay the groundwork for future growth.”
The EDAW intern proposal for Bay Street was compiled by top graduate students from around the world during a high level two-week workshop. EDAW representatives, at the time of the plan’s unveiling in June, said one of the most important aims of the process was to inspire a sense of ownership and pride in the community through the complete refurbishment of Nassau’s coast from the western Arawak Cay to Fort Montagu in the east. The interns delivered a preliminary conceptual plan labelled “tropical urbanism”, which included options for relocating the commercial shipping headquarters, beautifying the east-west coastal route and ameliorating traffic congestion to create an attractive retail, municipal, and touristic central business district that “engages the unique spirit of Junkanoo”.
Estimates placed the implementation of the plan at about $30-60 million, however Hill said that a series of “catalyst projects” could be addressed immediately and at minimal expense to jumpstart the total development process.
