Cruz Bay Creek Revitalization Plan Not Yet Ready for Public

 

Changes are still being made to the plans for the beautification of the Cruz Bay Creek, and it could be another month or more before plans are presented to St. John residents.

St. Thomas-based architecture firm deJongh Associates was instructed at a February V.I. Port Authority board meeting to address several alternatives to what the Creek will be used for, and how the docking facility will be incorporated.

The firm has since been working to make changes to its plan for the area and anticipated presenting those changes at VIPA’s monthly board meeting in April. DeJongh Associates was not on VIPA’s agenda for April or May, however. VIPA did not provide information on when the authority would next meet with the architecture firm.

“We have to get information to the Port Authority this week, and then we will be moving forward,” deJongh Associates founding partner Robert deJongh said last week.

The public will be presented with the plan once it’s approved by the board, explained VIPA spokesperson Monifa Marrero.
“After the board approves the plan, the next step will be to have a public meeting,” said Marrero.

The Creek has been used for a mishmash of activities, including docking for cruise ship tenders and parking, since barge traffic moved to the Enighed Pond Marine Facility in April 2006.

DeJongh Associates’ initial plan called for the opening of Enighed Pond to parking, providing 150 much-needed parking spots in Cruz Bay, during the revitalization period at the Creek.

The only other specific detail of the plan that has been revealed is the possibility of relocating the Customs facility to the opposite end of the Creek, closer to the V.I. National Park dock.