The contractor completing the Red Hook Intermodal Transit Facility
(that’s island-government-speak for "Ferry Dock") said it’s not likely
the $9.3 million dollar facility will be open for business for another
three months.
Island Roads Corp. said that while the long-delayed power
transformer equipment has finally arrived, the parking lot for the
facility needed to be rebuilt. "Unstable sub surface material,"
according to the Virgin Islands Daily News. (That’s contractor talk for ‘We screwed up.")
The 8,000-square foot facility looks great, but the entrance is
barred and if you want to take the ferry you buy your ticket in a line
that kind of snakes around to the new concrete dock, where the ship is
parked. Public restrooms, located at the entrance to the new RHITF are accessible. Over one is the sign, "Females." Interesting choice of word. There is no sign over the second one.
The Virgin Islands Port Authority has dropped plans to have a
newsstand business in the Terminal, but it is inviting bids for the
operation of a bar. (Hey let’s go to the dock for a beer! Both the Westin St. John and Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas have said they want to lease space in the building for information centers.