The newly elected mayor of St. George's is planning to capitalise on it's rich history to attract visitors and boost the economy.

Kenneth Bascome was elected Mayor on Wednesday evening beating out fellow candidate and former Mayor, E. Michael Jones, by 65 votes.

On his second official day yesterday as Mayor, Kenneth Bascome talked to The Royal Gazette about his plans for the old town.

Recently the St. George's area has seen a rise in crimes like vandalism and burglary. Calls for a more active Police presence and fully operational Police station have not yet been completely recognised.

While the St. George's Police station operates during the day and into the evening, it closes at midnight.

Mr. Bascome believes re-instating a fully operational Police station and having a 24-hour Police presence are the first steps in deterring crime and rejuvenating the former capital.

"My number one issue for the community is public safety," he said. "I don't need a survey to tell me what people are telling me everyday.

"We need to have a fully functioning Police station.

"Once residents are more comfortable in regards to policing and crime I believe that will translate into more visitors to the town."

And Mr. Bascome said he is determined to pursue this issue, claiming he has already requested a meeting with Public Safety Minister David Burch to discuss plans for the Police.

On Government's plans to build a Park Hyatt hotel at the site of the old Club Med, Mr. Bascome said: "It could be a great employment opportunity for St. George and as far as the economics of the town are concerned, I think it would be a great boost."

In past summers St. George's hosted cruise ships nearly every week but due to increasing size of ships, arrivals have dwindled from lack of space.

"I believe that next year is going to be very challenging as there has been no final decision regarding cruise ships," he said. "But I will make this point: we have the two mega ships in Dockyard and we must be looking to market ourselves better to those visitors."

He added that he will be meeting with people in the cruise ship industry to build a plan.

Mr. Bascome wants to use the extensive and unique cultural history of St. George's and it's connection to early settlements in the United States as another way to attract visitors to the town.

"Between Bermuda and Virginia there is a lot of shared history," he said. "I believe that by working with the St. George's Foundation, the National Trust and the Historical Society we can capitalise on all the history as another way to attract visitors.

"We also have been designated as a World Heritage Site and I believe that we can do a lot more to capitalise on that designation."

Highlighting the popularity of historical re-enactments of the wreck of the Sea Venture and the like, Mr. Bascome says he wants to expand the concept. By staging other re-enactments and similar cultural events he believes St. George's and the Island's wider tourist industry can benefit.

"We need to appeal to the Premier, who also happens to be the Minister of Tourism, to use St. George's and it's history as a promotional tool for tourism in general."

Mr. Bascome says that he also plans on reaching out to schools and instituting a plan to educate young Bermudians about the historical significance of the nearly 400-year-old town.

Regarding talks of building a facility to accommodate large yachts in St. George's Harbour, Mr. Bascome said: "It is something that we are actively looking into and it could be a great revenue stream for the town."

The new Mayor said he was "overwhelmed" by the results of the election and emphatically thanked the voters and people of St. George's. He also had a message for the homeowners, shopkeepers and business owners.

"We need to be a team across the board," he said. "The corporation is only the facilitator, the baton starts with us and finishes with businesses and homeowners.

"Soon we would like to have a meeting where every business is represented and a meeting where every homeowner in the Municipality is represented."