Disney Cruise Line’s (DCL) newest port of call on Eleuthera – Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point – welcomed its first guests on June 10, after four years of developing a cruise port that was a very different kind of construction project for Crystal Hanna, associate principal of architecture at local company Bron.
Hanna told Guardian Business that sticking to DCL’s plan to develop as little of the property as possible, while preserving as much of the natural features as they could, was a challenge when considering the virgin land and the scope of Disney’s features at the port of call.
Disney sought to develop no more than 16 percent of the 900-acre site it owns in South Eleuthera.
Disney Signature Experiences President Thomas Mazloum revealed at the opening ceremony for the property that while Disney promised to develop only 16 percent of the property, in the end it developed less than that.
Hanna said Bron, as the local architect and local engineer of record, had the unique challenge of ensuring the development footprint met Disney’s wish for environmental preservation at the site.
“It was extremely different… particularly the request to take away as little of the footprint of the land as possible,” said Hanna.
“This entire project is over 120 buildings, and it only takes up about 16 percent of the entire landmass of Lookout Cay.
“I feel that that is exceptional, because even as I was walking across the bridges, and you look at how they preserved a lot of the dunes and how you can just walk out down them to get to the beach, it’s not invasive to the dunes.
“From a sustainability aspect, I feel like this is a pretty awesome project.”
Hanna said Bron was also involved in studying the fauna of Lighthouse Point, and had consultants who worked on the site’s environmental management plan.
Bahamians were involved in every aspect of the development of Lookout Cay, and its management team is all Bahamian.
Article Credit: The Nassau Guardian
