Historic Building In Frederiksted Soon To Be Restaurant, Museum

Senators who make up the Committee on Finance on Friday approved a lease agreement between Department of Property and Procurement and the Cruzan Group, LLC d/b/a Ay-Ay Palace.

The measure, Bill No. 32-0126, will allow for a new start-up restaurant to be built in the historic Oscar Henry Customs House in Frederiksted. In addition to the upscale casual dining second-floor restaurant, other plans include a ground floor museum of the scale house for tourist and visitors alike.

Committee Chairman Kurt Vialet, a supporter of the measure, said now is the right time to invest in St. Croix’s restaurant industry. “St. Croix’s restaurant industry is doing extremely well. The restaurants in the town of Christiansted are filled every night – during peak-season and during off-season. There is a need for additional restaurants of this type in Frederiksted,” he said.

According Cruzan Group LLC member Toney Laurencin, the company’s main mission with this project is to help revitalize Frederiksted area. With an investment of up to $400,000.00, the Cruzan Group, LLC is committing to preserving the historical aspect of the building with appropriate techniques for coral-based material buildings. There’s also consideration of an A/C system that includes a dehumidifier to maintain proper atmospheric conditions for the facility’s interior.

Sen. Brian A. Smith sees the Cruzan Group, LLC as a role model for other Virgin Island entrepreneurs. “You guys exemplify courage,” he said. “We need people like you guys to step up and take on similar type projects.”

Mr. Smith also said the group’s investment is substantial enough to warrant a reduction of the fees to government of the Virgin Islands. Deputy Commissioner of Property and Procurement Laverne P. Bailey, quickly noted that the fees went through lengthy deliberations and all sides agreed to the the final numbers.

The measure received unanimous support from committee members and will be forwarded to the full body for further consideration.

Other action taken by the Committee on Finance included:

Bill No. 32-0071 – An Act amending Title 33, Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 12, Section525 relating to the rate of duty on articles shipped from within the U.S. Customs Zone to provide for duty-free importation of articles, and repealing 29, V.I.C. §§713c, 713e (c) (3), 713f (c) (3), and 806 (c); and 33 V.I.C. § 42b (d) (2), 526, 527, 531, and 532 – This measure was held in Committee until the call of the chair

Bill No. 32-0098 – An Act amending Title 33, Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 89, Subchapter III, Section 2541 pertaining to the attachment and sale of property for non-payment of taxes – This measure was held in Committee until the call of the chair

Bill No. 32-0089 – An Act authorizing the reprogramming of a portion of the proceeds of the Matching Fund Revenue Bonds, Series 2009A (the “Series 2009 Bonds”), issued pursuant to Act No. 7081, as amended by Act No. 7095, and certain Interest Earnings allocated to the Virgin Islands Department of Education non-school support facilities and certain school facility capital projects which require priority funding at this time – This measure was approved as amended and forwarded to the Committee on Rules and Judiciary

The Committee on Finance is scheduled to meet again on July 20, 2017

All seven Committee members were present
Chair: Senator Kurt A. Vialet, Vice Chair: Senator Marvin A. Blyden, Members: Senator Neville A. James, Senator Nereida Rivera-O’Reilly, Senator At Large Brian A. Smith, Senator Tregenza A. Roach, Senator Dwayne M. DeGraff

Feature Image: Oscar Henry Customs House in Frederiksted. (Credit: My Virgin Islands)