~ Environmentalists still not in favour ~
By Alita Singh
Emilio Wilson Estate, in its totality, has been the subject of controversy in the past year as environmental groups and concerned citizens lobbied to save it from becoming a housing development. Now on the table is a new project for the estate which developers claim will be a low impact rainforest adventure park.
Called Rockland Estate Rain Forest Adventures, the US $8 million project is still awaiting the relevant permits from government. It should create some 60 jobs once the construction is completed. The estate has been given a “monument” status, but there are still objections from groups such as Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation (EWEF) and St. Maarten Pride Foundation.
RAIN FOREST Adventures Chief Engineer John Dalton describes the project as one that will preserve the estate’s flora and fauna and restore the dilapidated plantation while making it accessible to residents and visitors to enjoy the beauty of the Dutch side’s highest peak – Sentry Hill. Environmentalists are not accepting of this and are sticking to their guns that the estate be acquired by government and preserved as “the first land-based protected area and National Park.”
Dalton and John Baker of IXI Design N.V. explained that the existing Emilio Wilson Historical and Cultural Park will remain untouched and a buffer of some 100,000 square metres outside the park and up the hillside has been reserved by government purchase. That land would be designated for conservation. The football field will also remain and be available for players.
Rain Forest Adventures as a “social contract” has committed to put aside US $1 for each visitor to the attraction for reforestation using endemic trees, park maintenance and improvements. This commitment is for a minimum of US $25,000 annually, according to Dalton. This offer, outlined to EWEF and Pride, is yet to be raised by the foundation overseeing the park. Rain Forest Adventures has partnered with the estate owners – the Henri Brookson family – for the venture.
Up the hill
The Rain Forest Adventures project entails that installation of a “high wire” built to accommodate a passenger chairlift. The 50-passenger “Flying Dutchman” will travel from the foot of the hill to the top – a 20-minutes ride – giving passengers a 360 degree view of the Cul de Sac basin and further afield to Great Bay and the French side.
At the top of Sentry Hill, another short high wire will take 18 passengers on the chair lift just under the craggy peak for a pit stop. Dalton said that to string the high wires and build the low impact deck at the peak, “a heavy lift helicopter” will be used, instead of cutting a road up the hillside. “We are working as much as possible to reduce our carbon footprint.”
The deck and high wire are designed to “not stand out” on the landscape and to not hamper the flora, including wild orchids. Soil-fill for a landing base of the high wire will be collected from the widening of the water catchment basin close to L.B. Scot Road. This should reduce the flood that area is prone to in times of heavy rainfall.
The entrance price is not yet set for the attraction. What has been determined is that the fee for residents will be about half the price of the ticket for a visitor. “We want as many people as possible from the island to come and enjoy the experience. In Jamaica, for example, some one-third of our business comes from Jamaicans.”
Some 300 per day are anticipated to visit the attraction. This should not cause any added traffic bottleneck in and out of Cul de Sac, Dalton said, because arrivals will be staggered to reduce backup. Another dimension to the attraction will be the addition of a specialised zip line in the second phase. With an elevation of some 300 metres, “it will be a leap of faith” for those who dare to try it. This is anticipated as a chief draw.
An “air tub run” will be added as a thrill for children visiting the attraction with parents.
Plantation house
The plantation house, currently in a dilapidated state, will be restored as true as possible to how it looked when Scottish Captain in the Dutch Navy John Philips, founder of Philipsburg, commissioned the house in the 1700s. It will become a museum and visitor information centre.
All visitors to the park will be funnelled through the plantation house where they will learn about the island’s history, culture, the estate and its namesake the late Emilio Wilson (a direct descendent of Trace Wilson who was born into slavery on the estate in 1818).
John Baker said there is hope to establish a partnership with Elsje Bosch of the St. Maarten Museum from where artefacts can be borrowed for displays. The two museums “should be complimentary.” The boiler house will be refitted to serve as a restaurant and bar. All the modern fittings and partitions in and around the boiler house will be removed to regain authenticity, Baker said. At a later stage, Dalton said the idea is to “bring it back to its original use as a rum factory.”
Six craft huts are included in the plans to give local artisans an outlet for their talents and merchandise. Parking capacity will be 96 vehicles. “This is a venue that is needed on the island. … It’s a destination definitely to be experienced,” Dalton said. Rainforest Adventures operates similar parks in Costa Rica, Dominica, St. Lucia and Jamaica. “In each one, we have taken a large block of rain forest and protected it.”
The attraction will have a “strong gardening team” with a mission to maintain the estate as well as work with school children on conservation projects. Prior to all construction, archaeologist Dr. Jay Haviser and students of the St. Maarten Archaeology Centre Simarc will carry out digs to map and collect any artefacts.
The go ahead
Rain Forest Adventures is still awaiting its permit from government. A request was sent in since July 19, 2011. To date, the plans have not been put on public review by the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI. The plans were in the meantime put on display at the IXI office upstairs of Carousel in Cole Bay.
The last the developers heard from Department Head J.B. (Hans) Sellink was than an advice to Deputy Prime Minister Theo Heyliger was being prepared. Sellink said in an e-mail to Dalton: “The essence is a positive advice about your permit application. Because of the monument status, we will advise our Minister accordingly about the relevant aspects and the shortest possible procedure to be followed.” There is hope that the plans will be approved and put on display this month.
Taking credit
EWEF and Pride should be “taking credit” for the rain forest adventure venture instead of opposing it vehemently, said Dalton. “If they had not stopped the housing development, this would not have come to be.” EWEF and Pride representatives Rueben Thompson and Jadira Veen met with Dalton and others twice about the attraction. The first time they voiced objections to the plans for rock climbing, a hanging bridge and some construction above the 200 metre protected altitude line.
These were removed from the design and a second meeting was held. “There were still objections. They would prefer a not-for-profit entity gain the land and for nothing to do done with it. This is not feasible because no one can enjoy the estate as is,” Dalton said.
The plans for Rockland Estate (one of the old names for the estate) attractions “meet all the objectives” EWEF has for the property. “Our plan didn’t comply with two objectives – that they [the foundation] own the land and for the development of fish farming.” Kimona King of IXI Design added that the project developers have gone through “a lot of trouble” to preserve the estate.
EWEF reminder to govt
EWEF continues to urge government “to pursue all possible legal and financial means necessary” to realize its commitment to the people to secure the estate as the country’s first land-based protected area and national park, Thompson said when contacted about the project. He classified it as “a mass tourism amusement park for primarily cruise ship tourists.” EWEF does not support the planned attraction because it entails construction on the hillside, top, and ridges of Sentry Hill and alteration of the natural rock formation at the hilltop.
The plans as seen by EWEF are “in violation of the hillside policy which states that “no building should occur on hilltops, ridges, and above the 200 metre altitude line,” Thompson said, adding that the project “does not sufficiently provide for educational activities regarding the Emilio Wilson Estate’s history and its importance as a unique aspect of St. Maarten’s, the Dutch Kingdom’s and the Caribbean’s shared heritage.”
The “Golden Rock Park Proposal” as it is referred to by EWEF is focused on “the commercial, mass exploitation” of the estate in the form of an amusement park with “no noteworthy conservation initiatives and no regard for the cultural significance of the area and our ancestors who toiled on the estate for generations during slavery.” Government has made commitments to the people to protect the entire estate which is now officially a recognized national monument.
The foundation is “surprised” to have been informed that Heyliger supports the proposal. “It would set an unwanted precedent if government were to even consider supporting the proposal.” Aside from repeatedly petitioning government to protect and even purchase the estate, EWEF hired consultants to compile a business plan for the “Emilio Wilson Estate Ecological and Historical Centre” and has applied for financing to purchase the estate by a number of Dutch and International funding agencies over the past six years. Work is still being done to acquire funding.
For more information about Rockland Estate, contact IXI Design on (1-721) 544-4688 or www.ixidesign.com
