Anyone hoping to learn more about the future of Caneel Bay Resort will have to endure a couple more weeks of suspense.
On Oct. 22, the National Park Service plans to release its request for qualifications, the first step in the selection process for a new developer of the iconic resort, according to Ahmad Toure, chief of the Division of Interpretation for the Virgin Islands National Park.
Toure and other park officials met with the public Wednesday evening at the Resource Management and Science Complex at Lind Point on St. John to provide updates on a number of park initiatives.
Toure referred meeting goers to an announcement published earlier in October that outlined the initial steps of the process for rebuilding the resort.
The announcement contains the surprising news that the Park Service is offering “an unprecedented 60-year lease term on 74 acres of the Virgin Islands National Park.” The length of the lease to rebuild the resort, which was heavily damaged by hurricanes in 2017, became a contentious issue with the previous leaseholder, CBI Acquisitions.
According to the announcement, “Competition for this lease is a straightforward two-step process, where bidders submit their qualifications to the NPS during the request for qualifications (RFQ) process.”
Those bidders found eligible through the RFQ will then be given the exclusive opportunity to submit a detailed proposal to “develop and manage an eco-friendly destination resort that commands the level of customer service expected in the U.S. Virgin Islands while also becoming an integral member of the community on St. John and throughout the Virgin Islands.”
Penny Del Bene, superintendent of the VINP, said the RFQ will be published for 60 days and can be extended for another 30 days upon request. The RFQ process is expected to take five or six months, she said.
Del Bene added that discussions are now underway about extending the temporary agreements with the owners of Caneel Bay Beach Club, the water plant, and ZoZo’s Restaurant which have been allowed to continue to operate on the property.
The park has no further plans at this time to offer land access to any other beaches on the Caneel Bay property, Del Bene said.
Caneel Bay Resort Removal of Hazardous Materials is Ongoing
At Wednesday’s meeting, Deputy Superintendent Scott Simmons gave an update about the process of removing contaminated materials from the Caneel Bay Resort property.
More than 58 tons of asbestos-containing material was removed from the lodging area between September 2023 and May 2024 and shipped to a site in Florida licensed to store this hazardous material, Simmons said.
The Park Service has awarded a contract to an independent company to monitor the removal of hazardous materials, including chemicals found in fuel and pesticides, from the former maintenance area at the resort. The cleanup is anticipated to begin in February, Simmons said.
The remediation of a third site, a 1.5-acre landfill once located behind Honeymoon Bay, is still in the planning stages.
Process to identify a Southern Emergency Evacuation Route has begun.
For many years, certain St. John landowners have said the establishment of the VINP has caused them to lose access to family land, which is within the boundaries of the VINP on the southern side of the island.
The steep and rocky L’Esperance Trail, which leads to Reef Bay and then connects to another trail leading to Lameshur Bay, was once an unpaved pathway that provided access to their property. At public meetings, requests have been made for the Park Service to grade and pave that trail, which would have the extra benefit of creating an alternate route out of Coral Bay.
At Wednesday’s meeting, officials announced that the VINP “has begun pre-National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) actions examining the feasibility of a project to provide an alternate evacuation route for emergencies, as well as to provide access to private lands within NPS-owned lands.”
This pre-NEPA process “includes additional proposal development, scope refinement, identification of data gaps, and other preparatory work that must be completed before initiating a full NEPA process,” according to officials.
An NPS team plans to keep the project moving forward by holding bi-weekly meetings, said Astrid Santini, the park’s chief of staff. Upon further questioning, Simmons said that some discussions have already been held with south shore landowners whose property can only be accessed now by steep trails.
Nick Crowley, the park’s facility manager, said plans are underway to rebuild the washed-out road at Lameshur Bay in 2026. That road connects to the paved road that runs past Salt Pond and eventually leads into Coral Bay.
Crowley said plans are also in the works to upgrade the water and wastewater plants at Trunk and Cinnamon bays and clear trails on Hassel Island in Charlotte Amalie Harbor.
A slide shows plans to upgrade trails and facilities at Hassell Island.(Source photo by Amy H. Roberts)
Audience members continued to ask for more clearance of bush along the roadsides, which makes opposite-lane traffic hazardous. New hires for positions in the Maintenance Division are pending, Crowley said.
Thomas Kelley, natural resource manager, spoke about the park’s collaborations with the University of the Virgin Islands and Coral World to protect coral reefs from bleaching and disease, and research techniques for growing and out-planting corals. Funding is in place for a number of initiatives for the next five years, he said.
Wednesday’s meeting was sparsely attended compared to other meetings held since June. VINP officials are planning to hold their last public meeting for the year on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
“Many parks do not hold public meetings,” said Del Bene, “but we want to do the right thing with the community.”
