Constant construction is the theme of this winter’s season on island. Dozens of new villas, hundreds of condo units and hundreds of timeshares are being built, from Cruz Bay to East End.
The sound of the previous night’s musical steel drums can give way when the sun comes up at 6:15 to the "beep, beep, beep" of Mack trucks backing up and air hammers breaking rock and ledge with their continuous "rat-a-tat-tat". Fortunately, the construction generally stops at about 4 p.m. Although we did hear one guy with a hyper work-ethic pounding rocks until 10 p.m. one Saturday night. (So did everybody else around the Bay!)
Sounds like St John is being consumed without restraint. Good luck with that.
Not consumed without restraint but certaintly someone needs to take pause. It’s like the Yogi Berra saying, “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded”. Truck horns and down-shifting of gears was worse this year in Coral Bay too. The construction explosion is almost ruining my favorite vacation spot.
Susan:
Glad you said “almost”. After all, the beaches and the Park and the restaurants are better than ever, and so are the people.
There is much more citizen input about development now. Sirenusa’s efforts have promoted a lot of comment, as have new projects in Coral Bay. I think new construction is going to be tougher to get done, not easier. Gov. DeJongh knows the jewel of the territory is St. John, and its luster comes from tourism. His choices to head the Tourism Department show that recognition.
The pace of building is also unpredictable. You really can’t be sure that the noise that may have punctuated your lunch will be there a week from now. Where there is noise now, in a month it will be quiet because the heavy lifting will be done.
And of course, it’s always possible to find a quiet place, no matter what. Every villa I’ve seen has several living areas, some secluded and comfy, and perfect for reading.
Enjoy the island.
Frank