BLDC wants to convert US Navy building into hostel for its workers

The Bermuda Land Development Company has made a planning application to convert an old US Navy building into a hostel for Government workers.

However, BLDC Facilities Manager Steven Tucker said yesterday the old galley building at No. 22 Tommy Fox Road, St. David's, will eventually have to be bulldozed down because it is obsolete. "The old galley building will eventually be knocked down but that is way down the road," Mr. Tucker said.

BLDC spokesman Richard Calderon said the temporary hostel accommodation would be for construction workers they may have to bring in from overseas for future BLDC projects.

"A lot the challenges for contractors are finding accommodation for foreign workers on a temporary basis," Mr. Calderon said. "Hotels are too expensive and add to the bottom line cost."

Mr. Tucker added the project could be completed in 12 to 18 months subject to planning approval. The galley will be refitted with a new kitchen, showers and bedrooms. "A hostel is very basic," Mr. Tucker said. "It is in a dormitory style."

Police will also use the building, as one of their own upgrading projects for sleeping accommodations will not be ready in time.

"Police occupy a building down there now, but they only occupy one floor," Mr. Tucker explained. "They will probably occupy the whole building in time and they are renovating the middle floor for their use. But in the timeframe for it to be completed and new staff arriving on the Island, there is a gap there."

Warrant issued for newscaster

A warrant was issued for media personality, Ceola Wilson in Magistrates' court yesterday.

The 44-year-old Ms Wilson has not been charged as yet since she failed to show up in plea court yesterday. But a source told The Royal Gazette that Ms Wilson had been arrested sometime on, or around July 19 after allegedly shoplifting from Lindo's on Middle Road.

Ms Wilson was a television news anchor for ZBM before joining VSB in the late 1990s. In recent years Ms Wilson has had a column in the Bermuda Sun.

Men arrested for counterfeit note

Two men were arrested after trying to pass off a fake Bermuda $100 in The Beach bar on Front Street on Tuesday evening.

The note was given to one of the bartenders who handed it to the manager who alerted Police. The suspects, a 41-year-old and a 40-year-old from Southampton, were taken to Hamilton Police station.

Tourist robbed of $300

A 23-year-old American tourist was pulled into an alleyway, beaten and robbed of nearly $300 and a cell phone by three men who had pretended to they were taking him to a nightclub.

The man needed hospital treatment for a deep cut above his right eye after the vicious attack in an alleyway near The Beach bar on Front Street in the early hours yesterday. The men were all brown skinned males in their early 20s. One wore a red and blue New York baseball cap, the second wore a blue baseball cap and a third had shoulder-length dreadlocks.

Anyone with information should call Hamilton CID on 295 0011.

Dinghy Club's gets the go-ahead

Plans by the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dingy Club (RHADC) on Pomander Road in Paget to build a proposed car turnabout and convert an existing tennis court into a parking lot were approved by the Development Applications Board (DAB) at their last meeting.

On June 8, RHADC architect Duncan Scott told the DAB development includes "cutting back the embankment, raising the level of the drive and converting one of the two existing tennis courts into a car park, including moving the mesh fence and planting additional foliage screening."

Any trees or shrubs which die or are removed during the conversion must be replaced by endemic trees or shrubs, the DAB said.

New apartment building approved

A developer Government stopped from building a new dolphin park has had his plans to construct of a new apartment building on Breezyway Lane in Smith's approved by the Development Applications Board (DAB).

Dolphin Oasis developer Martin Hassell applied in January for planning permission to demolish an existing building and construct the five new homes. The DAB said a building permit is required before construction can commence. Mr. Hassell must also provide parking for six cars, private outdoor living space, and a communal garbage storage area. When contacted, Mr. Hasselll said he was pleased with the approval.