BTA aims to extend life of Front Street container visitor hub
The Bermuda Tourism Authority is seeking to extend the existence of a Front Street visitor hub that cost $1.3 million and was due to be removed next February – less than four years after it opened.
It got the go-ahead in 2017 for a structure made of shipping containers, with planning permission limited to five years from the date a building permit was issued.
Information on the Government’s Department of Planning website showed that the Hamilton Visitor Services Centre – formerly the Artemis Racing America’s Cup guest pavilion – was due to be removed and the land returned to its former state when the consent expired on February 16, 2023.
Tracy Berkeley, the BTA interim chief executive, said last week: “Though the permit for the Bermuda Visitor Service Centre was temporary, due to the favourable results and response to the BVSC, we are in the process of extending said permit with the objective of continuing to assist our visitors from the convenient location on Front Street.”
A spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs said last night that no planning application was so far received by the Department of Planning to renew the approval.
The BTA said last week: “The mission of the BVSC is to become an internationally recognised industry leader for providing consistent and positive economic stimulation through the provision of high-value visitor servicing.
“With a vision of providing Bermuda’s visitors with information that informs and educates; delivered through engaging individuals and services; that result in direct, measurable increases in spending on the island’s products and experiences.”
Ms Berkeley said: “The Bermuda Tourism Authority believes this mission and vision are clear and have seen success with increased footfall throughout the BVSC year on year.”
She added: “Since its inception in April 2019, the Hamilton VSC has had over 122,000 visitors in the location and served as host to numerous events for tourism stakeholders, such as craft markets, information sessions and rum tastings.
“This space has also become home to The Birdcage, a favourite among locals and tourists, and serves as the only bar on the Hamilton harbour.”
In response to a public access to information request, the BTA said earlier that the initial budget for construction of the building was $825,000 but that did not include acquisition of the containers and an elevator, or work related to disability access.
It added that spending on the build turned out to be $952,772.
The response said: “The additional costs related to the strengthening of the structure to meet Bermuda code."
It added that these included costs related to pilings for the foundations; new glazing because an original Plexiglas solution was not sufficiently wind resistant; additional bracing for the windows; and additional waterproofing and sealing.
The BTA’s information officer confirmed later that the containers cost $245,831, the elevator was $66,000 and the remaining amount attributed to work for disability access was about $65,000.
Those figures bring the total spend to more than $1.3 million.
The BTA applied for planning permission to move the Team Artemis guest pavilion – used as part of the event village for the 35th America’s Cup – to its site on Front Street, near the junction with Queen Street, in 2017.
Approval was given by the Development Applications Board in November that year.
In its meeting minutes, the DAB said: “In order to safeguard the amenity of the surrounding area (Front Street and the waterfront), the permission hereby granted shall be for a limited period only, expiring five years from the issuance date of the building permit, when the structure shall be removed and the land shall be restored to its former condition.”
Under the heading of “Planning Assessment”, a report to the board said: ”The department agrees with the Architecture Advisory Panel that a five- year time frame enables the BTA to formulate a more long-term solution and in the meantime provides an opportunity to test the viability of a structure of this magnitude in advance of a long term redevelopment scheme.“
A Ministry of Home Affairs spokesman said last night: “The Development Applications Board granted planning approval for developing a three-storey tourism and hospitality structure with a roof deck on Front Street on November 1, 2017.
“A condition attached to the consent limited the approval to five years from February 16, 2018, when the associated building permit was issued, expiring on February 16, 2023."
"To date, the Department of Planning has not received any planning application for the renewal of this approval.“
He added: “Notwithstanding, the Department of Planning has embarked upon a comprehensive review of the City of Hamilton Plan 2015 and fully recognises the importance of the wider waterfront area.
“As with all elements of the forthcoming plan, the future of this area, from a planning policy perspective, will be informed by a public consultation exercise."
A City of Hamilton spokeswoman confirmed last week that the land on which the visitor services centre stood was leased from the municipality.
She added: “A five-year lease was granted in line with the planning permission.”
Asked if requests were made to extend the lease, or whether the corporation expected the building to be removed in or by February next year, the spokeswoman said: “The city is currently in negotiations with the BTA on this matter.”
Bermuda Visitor Services Centre Limited was incorporated in November 2017 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the BTA.
It also runs sites in the West and East Ends.
The BTA gets a grant of more than $20 million a year from the public purse
The Bermuda Tourism Authority’s 2019 Year in Review said that a Visitor Services Centre opened on Duke of York Street, in the Town of St George that year, while “a revamped Dockyard facility opened in 2018”.
Financial statements up to the end of 2020, provided to The Royal Gazette in response to a public access to information request, showed that Bermuda Visitor Services Centre Ltd received funding from the BTA of $500,000 in 2018 and 2019, then $400,000 the following year.
The figures, which include all three visitor services sites, showed that sales in 2019 totalled more than $2.2 million but plummeted to just over $100,000 in 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic hit.
An operating surplus of almost $209,000 in 2018 was followed by deficits of about $212,000 in 2019 and about $37,000 for the year ended December 31, 2020.
The Hamilton Visitor Services Centre was officially opened in April 2019.
Bids were invited earlier that year for a “pop-up vendor opportunity” to lease the roof level at the building.
In a request for proposals, the BTA said the BVSC sought an island vendor to take on the “open-air space with limited protection from the elements” from April to December, 2019.
It explained that the Hamilton hub had three floors, including areas for the visitor services centre, private events and the roof deck.
The Birdcage cocktail bar was the successful vendor and has operated at the spot for a number of months each year since 2019.
Matthew Strong, an owner at the watering hole, said last week that his latest service agreement to operate at the VSC was for two years, starting in March 2022.
He explained that he was aware the building’s arrangements were temporary but understood his contract ran until the end of 2023.
Mr Strong said: “We were like, can we get something longer? And they couldn’t grant it.
“They understood our situation, they were very understanding through Covid but they were like, we don’t have the lease beyond the five years – so that would be end of next year.”
Mr Strong added: “There’s a huge amount of traffic going through that building, so it’s very heavily used by visitors.”
He said: “The team in there is phenomenal.”
• To see the Pati response in full, click on the PDF under “Related Media”.
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