Consultants for the MOON Resort and Casino project believe it will act as a complement to Atlantis and all other development projects just taking off.
Dr Gilbert Morris, executive director of the Landfall Centre and an economic impact consultant for the project, yesterday told The Tribune that if the Bahamas was chosen as the location for the MOON Resort & Casino, it would transform this nation into a truly “global destination” rather than just being renowned for its climate, beaches and sea.
Various other locations in the Caribbean and the Far East are under consideration as potential sites for the MOON Resort & Casino, which if it comes to fruition would involve an investment almost double the $2.1 billion that will be invested on Paradise Island by Kerzner International if it goes through with the full $1 billion Phase III expansion.
It would also involve an investment worth more than Kerzner International and the proposed $1 billion Cable Beach regeneration combined, and provide an unprecedented boost for the Bahamian economy in terms of employment, incomes and gross domestic product (GDP) contribution.
However, it is a long way from becoming a reality, with a projected completion date of 2010. MOON Resort & Casino, which is the brainchild of Irishman Michael R. Henderson, an Irishman who made his fortune through laser eye surgery, is set to decide upon its favourite location by July 2004.
The project is set to employ a lunar-related them, and is billed as the “world’s largest, most expensive and most spectacular resort and real estate development”. MOON Resort & Casino will comprise five-man made islands, which will house a casino, hotel, resort attractions, cruise ship terminals, marinas, real estate and sporting facilities.
“The project is a tribute to the earth’s closest celestial partner and as such is built on an enormous scale never attempted before,” a release from Mr Henderson said.
Dr Morris yesterday told The Tribune: “We believe this is a once-in-a-lifetime project – project for all projects. It will be complementary to all the developments happening in the Bahamas at the moment, but will be completely different to all others. It has a theme that will be distinctly different.
“This is our chance to make the Bahamas a global destination in the world -a destination that is not only known for its sun, sand and sea and quaint colonial features.
“If it is the Bahamas, it would be the sort of project that moves between fantasy and reality.”
Dr Morris added that the MOON Resort & Casino would be at “forefront of technology”, putting the Bahamas “not at the cutting edge but at the bleeding edge”.
He said that among the project’s advisers were “everyone who has been on the moon”. Many consultants had also worked on The Palm project in Dubai, which is where Kerzner International plans to situate its Middle Eastern version of Atlantis, and involves man-made islands reclaimed from the sea and laid out in the shape of a palm.
“This is probably the finest team of professionals ever assembled,” Dr Morris said. “Every aspect of this – from the Imax theatre to the moon and lunar space attractions – everything about it is going to be extensive.”
Apart from Dr Morris, Bahamian involvement in the MOON Resort & Casino project also includes Gerry Wirth of Wirth Associates, who is billed as ‘country representative and location consultant’.
Previous statements from Mr Henderson have envisaged the MOON Resort & Casino as featuring 10,000 hotel rooms, with attractions that include a giant lunar-themed aquatic centre, shopping complex, terrestrial biosphere, moon buggy rides, and an International Space Station.
The centrepiece of the five-island complex would be the ‘Moon’, a 350 foot high complex housing the world’s largest casino. There are plans for 12,000 gaming machines and 600 gaming tables.
Other features would include an 18-hole championship golf course, capable of hosting PGA tournaments, surrounded by a monorail system.
By Neil Hartnell, The Tribune
