Government pays $5.6m for waterfront land for multi-purpose tourism attraction

Government has spent $5.6 million for almost two acres of land along the George Town waterfront for the creation of a new tourism attraction, which Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan says will not only train and employ Caymanians, but showcase authentic local culture.

According to Ministry of Finance documents, shared with the Cayman Compass, on 10 Dec., the land purchase was approved through a Public Management and Finance Act Section 11.5 transaction.

Transactions under that section are reserved for emergency or exceptional circumstances and are done without Finance Committee approval, but it must be reported to the Committee at its next sitting.

Bryan, speaking with the Cayman Compass on Friday, confirmed that the land, located at the old Resort Sports property, just north of the Lobster Pot restaurant, now belongs to the government and work has commenced on clearing the area.

“We are in the design phase and the analyse phase,” he said, adding that he expects, in the coming weeks, to unveil plans for the land and what shape the project will take.

He said the design team has been working on making the project a place where Caymanians can be trained in the tourism industry while getting real life experience and earning a living through their employment.

The vision, he said, is to have Caymanians take up positions from bartenders to kitchen staff to servers and get trained-up through the hospitality school as well.

“They will have the experience of high traffic from the tourists because we will drive people there,” he added.

This, he said, will encourage young Caymanians to seek employment in the tourism industry and to ensure they have the requisite experience to perform the roles.

Though he did not want to delve too deeply into the project ahead of its unveiling, Bryan said it will also give local artistes a platform to showcase their talent on evenings.

“We hear the complaints ‘we do not see Caymanians’,” he said, adding that this new space will fix that concern, as it will be a venue for authentic local culture.

Back in November, Bryan, speaking during his submission to the budget debate, announced the plan for the land which, he said, would be transformed into a “multi-purpose tourism venue that would integrate training, leisure and entertainment in one central location”.

The PACT administration, he said, initially planned to invest $1 million in the project to get it established.

He said, while that may sound like a lot, there is some work to do to get the area ready for the vision he has for it.

If government can spend a little more when things pick up, Bryan said, he will make the case for further funding to build on the vision.

“There are a mix of wooden and concrete buildings on the property, which will be repurposed and turned into a restaurant and bar type facility that will be used to train Caymanians to assume roles in the service and hospitality sector, as bartenders, front of house servers, kitchen staff, chefs and the like. In addition to training, the location would provide a perfect new home for the Cayman Islands Craft Market,” he had told Parliament in November.

The area, he went on to say, could also be used as the venue for Pirates Week and George Town District Day celebrations, “which would avoid the closure of Cardinal Avenue that causes inconvenience to businesses and road users”.