The Dredging of Gallows Bay

Editorial

If one examines the facts objectively, with a clear-head, in a realistic manner, the dredging of Gallows Bay is nothing more than a pipe dream that Virgin Islanders have been chasing for decades. Granted, it’s a sweet dream: sleek luxury yachts, small cruise ships and luxury schooners parking their custom-made hulls alongside the Virgin Islands Port Authority (VIPA) harbor. But from all current indications that are being given off by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the chances of the project coming about before we see futuristic cars flying into the parking lot of Gallows Bay Hardware are only slightly better than the day we see pigs fly.

There is currently an initial phase of a feasibility study on the project. But this is akin to a feasibility study on how best to part the Red Sea. There have been studies piled atop studies on how to go about bringing this project to fruition dating back to the 1950’s. None of them have accomplished anything. They have all wound up in Davy Jones’ Locker. The USACE admitted in their last meeting with the VIPA in January of this year that the project was a long shot, with years and perhaps decades of roadblocks ahead. Of course, it’s wonderful to dream. And look how long the Christiansted Bypass took to complete. So, perhaps it’s not a bad dream to keep it on the back burner, filed under the category of “Dreaming the impossible dream.” But then again, maybe it’s time to push ahead with more reasonable goals for the future of Gallows Bay, projects that are considerably more attainable. 

It’s not so far-fetched to believe we could extend the Boardwalk from Christiansted to Gallows Bay. Where are we at with the feasibility studies to complete that project? Wouldn’t that open up a world of opportunities for commerce and culture? Where are we at in soliciting the possibility of bringing a hotel into the area? Can you just imagine what a 75 or 100 room hotel would do for Gallows Bay? Where are we at in beautifying the back roads of the town so the entire area is more appealing to tourists?        

Of course these are also pipe dreams, but they seem to be pipe dreams with a much less THC content than those being blown about in the discussions of the dredging of Gallows Bay. 

It is time to turn our attention to Gallows Bay as being another ‘Little Treasure’ of St. Croix, in a similar sense as we think about Frederiksted and Christiansted. Perhaps it’s time we put on our thinking caps and run some new ideas up the USVI flag pole.      

– A.J. Pike