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HomeNewsArchivesHEARING WEDNESDAY ON V.I. HOTEL CONVERSION

HEARING WEDNESDAY ON V.I. HOTEL CONVERSION

Sept. 10, 2001 – Plans to convert the onetime Virgin Isles Hotel into a veterans' multipurpose center will be presented when the Senate Labor and Veterans Affairs Committee meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Legislature Building on St. Thomas.
Noting the impact the proposed legislation could have on the lives of veterans and others in the community, Sen. Norma Pickard-Samuel, the committee chair, encouraged veterans, others with military connections, and the general public to attend the hearing.
"The development of this property has been talked about for many years, and many ideas have been tossed around," Pickard-Samuel said in a release Monday. "We must come together as a community to move forward this project."
Three years ago, the consortium that owned the former showplace hotel overlooking the St. Thomas harbor donated the hurricane-ravaged and rundown property to the V.I. government, which has done nothing with it since then.
Before the committee now is a bill to transfer the property to Veterans Resource and Development Inc. for 99 years at the cost of $1 per year. Among those invited to testify at Wednesday's hearing are Chuck Smith, Matrix Realty & Development; James Tabron, executive director, Durham Housing Authority; Robbi Jones, the investment banking firm SBK Brooks; Samuel Ebbesen, president, Innovative Telephone; Cleave McBean, V.I. National Guard; Dr. Alfred O. Heath; Edward Phillips, American Legion Post No. 90; Jodeen Dawson, Vet Center counselor; Alton Adams Jr., Alton Adams & Associates; Fernando Webster, director, Office of Veterans Affairs; and Lawrence Bastian, district commander, Office of Veterans Affairs.
To offer comments or learn more, call the senator at 693-3535.

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