Many Grand Bahamians have long been hoping for a rebirth for their island and with $1 billion worth of projects in the pipeline - some of which have started - many are closely watching developments, even if from a cautiously optimistic point of view.
Prime Minister Philip Davis recently lamented the island's economic decline, pointing out in the House of Assembly in May that while Grand Bahama contributes 12 percent of the overall gross domestic product (GDP) of The Bahamas, its economy declined by nine percent in 2022 compared to the previous year.
He noted statistics show a "prolonged decline in the Grand Bahamian economy" and signaled that the current Hawksbill Creek economic model, which was meant to attract foreign direct investment, does not work.
Davis also expressed his government's view that the governance model of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) must change "in order to realize the promise, growth and prosperity which we all desire".
Contention over the future of Grand Bahama, and the role of the GBPA in driving growth, comes even after several key projects are being pushed both by the government and the Port Authority.
The new projects include the planned $200 million redevelopment of Grand Bahama International Airport (GBIA); Royal Caribbean International (RCI) and the ITM Group's $70 million redevelopment of the Freeport cruise port; Carnival's planned $300 million cruise port for East Grand Bahama; the Grand Bahama Shipyard's planned $350 million expansion; and a $200 million Six Senses resort and spa by the Weller Development group.
But there is some skepticism on the island after years of promises and letdowns about an economic rebound.
Frazette Gibson, chief councilor for the City of Freeport, said Grand Bahamians don't get excited about "shovels in the ground" but about ribbons being cut.
Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce President James Carey said residents, while excited about the new possibilities, are wary of grand promises that may go unfulfilled.
"I've been a resident of Grand Bahama since 1980 and I have seen a lot of projects on the drawing board, many of them never materialized," Carey said.
"Having said that, I've been very excited about all the projects that you have mentioned. There is evidence that some of them are coming to fruition or have started already, and Grand Bahama having gone through a series of devastating hurricanes over the last, almost 20 years, we're excited that there [are] some possibilities now of some economic revival in Grand Bahama."
Perhaps most critical to the island's success is the planned airport redevelopment.
Badly damaged by Dorian, GBIA is in desperate need of a facelift in order to accommodate the air traffic needed to put heads in beds and boost the flagging economy.
Earlier this year, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper announced that a deal has been inked with a consortium for the $200 million project, the first phase of which is set to wrap up by early 2025.
"One of the critical factors in getting the Grand Lucayan sold and getting the Grand Bahama economy revived is to have a world-class international airport that can accommodate US preclearance," Cooper said.
The airport project will consist of two phases which are expected to generate 1,200 construction jobs consistently over the next five years. The first phase will include construction of a new domestic terminal, US preclearance terminal, new taxiways, roads and parking lots, a flood mitigation system, renewable energy systems, and infrastructure for air freight cargo areas.
The groundbreaking was initially set to begin in the first quarter of 2023, but Grand Bahamians still wait to see visible signs of work starting.
On May 4, Cooper said "any day now, we should see some of the ground works".
He said, "The teams of the consortium are actively engaged with a lot of the time spent on the project and on island. Stakeholder consultations in relation to the designs are underway. This is critical to determine which elements will be completely demolished and/or repaired."
Some Grand Bahama residents are getting impatient.
"While we have heard of the airport project, we still have not seen any details of this project," East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson said in Parliament in June.
Another critical need for the island is a new health facility. The island's Rand Memorial Hospital was badly damaged during Hurricane Dorian and sustained heavy flooding.
There are also space issues at the facility.
In late May, the Davis administration held a groundbreaking for a $210 million Freeport Health Campus.
Prime Minister Philip Davis said the event was evidence that Grand Bahama "is no longer on the back burner".
"At this new healthcare center, wounds will be healed, medical research will be advanced, lives will be rebuilt and the Grand Bahama Health Services will be positioned to provide the highest standards of care now and into the future as a long-awaited vision is now, at last, becoming reality," Davis said.
The hospital will have a 126-bed capacity and an oncology center. It will be constructed in three phases: the first phase will encompass a 60,000-square-foot clinic; the second phase will have an in-patient surgical suite urgent care facility; and phase three will see the construction of an acute care hospital with 126 in-patient beds.
However, some people have downplayed this project, mocking the proposed health center as nothing more than a glorified clinic.
"The promised hospital, or should I say clinic, that ground was just broken for, has failed to fulfill what is really needed," said Thompson, adding residents on Grand Bahama will not get a new health facility for "years to come".
Development
On track to open in 2026, the Six Senses resort will feature 45 waterfront and canal villas. There are plans for a signature restaurant, beach venue, boathouse, and access to a new marina at the 36-acre site.
The developers, Weller Development Partners and Pegasus Capital Advisors, say the project will have a focus on sustainability and regeneration.
The project's groundbreaking is expected to occur early in 2024.
One project that is already underway is Carnival's Grand Port at the Sharp Rock site in East Grand Bahama. It will generate considerable commercial activity on Grand Bahama, the cruise line said.
"The expanded commercial activity will allow the whole island to benefit from this development. The project will be designed and maintained to showcase the natural beauty and culture of the island. It will reinvent Grand Bahama as a destination," Carnival said.
The port, which was in the works for years and is set to open in 2024, will be able to accommodate two of the largest ships in the world with a capacity of 6,000 guests each. It is expected to turn Grand Bahama into a highly sought after cruise destination.
The Grand Bahama Shipyard's planned $350 million investment in two new dry docks has been in the pipeline for years. The project was first announced by then-Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis in the summer of 2021.
The expansion was expected to begin in October of that year, and the new docks were expected to arrive at the shipyard in late 2022. However, these timelines were not met, with shipyard officials saying the COVID-19 pandemic hindered their plans.
There's also been little update on the planned sale of the Grand Lucayan resort, which closed in 2016 after hurricane damage.
The Minnis administration bought the property in 2018 with plans to sell it off to a worthwhile investor. However, the government was unable to close the deal before it was voted out of office in 2021. After the Davis administration won the 2021 election, it canceled the deal which was on the table.
A new buyer was sought, however, a subsequent deal brokered by the Davis administration fell through in 2022 and the property remains on the market.
In March, Cooper said there were three credible offers on the table for the property, but given the history of the stalled sale, he said he will withhold further information until the "money is in the bank".
The opaqueness of the Grand Lucayan's future is cause for concern.
Carey said Grand Bahama needs more hotel rooms.
"We have a lot of empty hotel rooms, the Xanadu is no more, the Bahamas Princess is no more, some smaller hotels are no more. Our Lucaya (Grand Lucayan), we are still waiting for some indication of what's really going to happen with that," he said.
The promises of rebirth for Freeport and Grand Bahama are nothing new.
What remains to be seen is if these projects will get off the drawing board and into reality to breathe life back into a beleaguered city.
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