Back in May we told you how Tom Secunda, a part-time resident who happens to be a co-founder of Bloomberg LP up in New York City, had purchased the contract over at Cinnamon Bay. Not only was Mr. Secunda planning on cleaning up the campground immediately and rebuilding it for all to enjoy, but his team also announced that all proceeds from the campground would support philanthropic and resiliency projects on the island. Pretty amazing stuff.
Well three months have passed since the announcement was made, so we figured it’s time to give you all a nice update.
For starters, a great deal of cleanup has happened so far. The majority of the campground area is fenced off with green cloth to keep prying eyes out, but from what we can see, a lot has happened. It’s hard to tell just how much has occurred on the eco tent side because it is heavily wooded, but we can see building materials here and there, so we know stuff is happening. Over on the cottages side, you can see that all have been removed. A few dumpsters remain on site in that area.
Regarding facilities onsite, the bathrooms remain closed. There are four portable restrooms available for use on site.
According to Adrian Davis, who is directing the project, most of the natural dead debris has been removed from the cottage and tent sites, and electric has been restored to the meter. Their next project will focus “on over 10,000 feet of pipe for water and sewer. All the underground water and sewer lines have to be replaced. We look forward to working with the NPS archeologists and staff as we get started on this necessary step.”
Check out these images we took a few days ago.
Looks great, right?
In their May announcement, Mr. Secunda’s team said it hoped to have the campground open for the 2020-2021 season. In an email late Saturday, Adrian said they still cannot determine an exact reopening date. “We have to get through the water and sewer project first,” he said. “After that, we can start working on bathhouses and the main building.”
We will keep you posted on the progress here, folks. Have a great day everyone.
Thanks for the updates and a special thanks to Mr. Secunda. My wife and I LOVE Cinnamon Bay so much we weren’t sure if it was ever going to be repaired. It’s such a beautiful place and holds so many great memories. We are looking forward to seeing it again and adding new memories. I for one am hoping they don’t do to many “improvements” as part of the charm was the rustic atmosphere.
I totally agree with Gary. . Hope that our 2021 visit to St. John will be sith a reservation at Cinnamon Bay..
Tom Secunda and Bloomberg LP are philanthropic treasures! St. John is a Caribbean treasure! And now
beautiful Cinnamon Bay is being restored through love to the treasure it was. Words fail, but THANK YOU
must suffice .. to Bloomberg, Kenny Chesney and Jenn Manes and so many others.
How exciting! Thank You Mr. Secunda…you have given so much hope & joy to those of us to Love St. John! Nothing compares to a Cheeseburger in Paradise…on Cinnamon Bay! Bless you and All who are working So Hard for returning this Treasure!
Perhaps Mr. Secunda would consider purchasing Caneel Bay….
Have been visiting St. John Over 35yrs. & look forward to completion of Cinnamon Beach’s renovations. It’s been a favorite off all beach’s of the Island. Parents are Well Known; Patricia & Ronald Lee, living Cruz Bay. I wish the best and look forward to my vacation come Christmas, Holidays.
Thanks for the info and photos! I feared Cinnamon Bay camping and cabins were gone forever. Can’t wait to return, have a Nov 2020 trip planned.
This warms my heart to see this great progress! Cinnamon was my absolute favorite place to be! I was devastated to see what happened there and look forward to seeing what’s to come. Thank you so much!
So glad to read this about Cinnamon Bay. Our family’s favorite place to go. We are looking forward to coming back to St.John’s VI and Cinnamon Bay soon.
The last concessionaire tried to ruin Cinammlon with their ugly, expensive ‘’tents’ too close to each other, ruining of the bare spots for free range camping, and overall trying to create a ‘resort’ feel (and ‘resort’ prices). The allure to Cinammon (before the last concessionaire) was always the simplicity and the low prices. We don’t know what Secunda and Bloomberg plan on doing so it’s too early to heap praise.if he works for a billionaire he might think $200+ a night is inexpensive.
Cindy Moore,
actually $200.00 per night is very inexpensive on STJ.
However, I don’t think they will charge that much since it will be not for profit.
Amazing what money and commitment can accomplish. Maybe the Caneel lessors could learn from this man and his actions.
I have come to St John for a very long time. This might be a way for me to return again due to the higher expense of making this trip. Also I miss Maho Bay Eco Resort, and this may be a way to replicate being back immersed in the beautiful nature of St. John. I hope they re-establish the platform tent cottages with screening to help with mosquitos. I do hope to return in 2020. Thank you!
This is great news, first place we stayed when we went to St. John. My all time favorite Island. Lots of memories at Cinnamon Bay. I will patiently wait for it to open. Thanks for taking care of this great place!!!
Thank you so much for providing an update on the progress at CBC. We LOVED our visit to Cottage 10 at the end. The St. John Forum clued us in to so many great things. We are delighted to learn about the progress, and we plan to we will support the efforts of Mr Secunda with a reservation in the Campground for 2021.
Thank you for update. The eco tents were lovely. Not everybody that comes to Cinnamon wants to stay in a baresite or dark tent. With all the added expenses for bringing camping necessities on an airplane it isn’t like it was before to come camping on St John. $200 a night is very reasonable for north shore gorgeous ocean accommodations. Can’t wait.
You’de be crazy to pay $200 a night to sleep in a tent on a beautiful beach. Theres lots of beautiful beaches in the world where you can get a luxury room for that price. The earth is 2/3 water…. lots of beaches!
This is very nice!