Paradise Island, Bahamas

Overview

Paradise Island is an island in the Bahamas, located just off the shore of the city of Nassau, which is itself located on the northern edge of the island of New Providence. It is best known for the sprawling 'Vegas-by-the-sea resort' Atlantis.

Paradise Island is connected to the island of New Providence by two bridges that cross Nassau Harbour. The first was built in 1966 and the second in the late 1990s.

History

Paradise Island was formerly known as Hog Island. Huntington Hartford, the A&P supermarket heir, arrived on Hog Island in 1959 because his sister Josephine Hartford Bryce lived in Xanadu near Lyford Cay. Hartford bought Hog Island from Axel Wennergren and changed the name to Paradise Island. He hired the Palm Beach architect John Volk and built the Ocean Club, Cafe Martinique, Hurricane Hole, the Golf Course, among other island landmarks. He also acquired and installed the Cloisters, a 14th-century French Augustinian monastery originally purchased and dismantled by William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s. He hired Gary Player to be the Golf Pro and Pancho Gonzales to be the Tennis Pro.

His opening of Paradise Island in 1962 was covered in Newsweek and Time magazines. He hired the staff from Eden Roc at Hotel Du Cap to work off season at the Ocean Club. He had the fireworks for the opening party flown in from the South of France. He had a flag and Paradise Beach was featured on a Bahamian three-dollar bill in 1966 (introduced as a close equivalent to the Bahamian Pound, which was replaced at the rate of $1=7/-, so $3=21/-).  Hartford was also the person responsible for obtaining the gambling license for Paradise Island.

Jim Crosby and Jack Davis renamed his company Resorts International. This was the first company to introduce the concept of "buy one, get one free"[citation needed] in the United States and one of the first to franchise companies. Recognizing the business potential of the Bahamas, they were the first to establish major resort development, and introduce fair salaries to the Bahamas. Jack Davis, educated in Harvard's class of 1949, secured casino rights, and continued to develop Paradise Island. He subsequently parlayed these profits to secure and pass a referendum on legalizing gambling in Atlantic City, funding and creating the successful statewide advertising campaign to singlehandedly achieve this city's rebirth from its ashes.

Development

Hartford also acquired and installed the Cloisters, a French 14th-century Augustinian monastery, originally purchased and dismantled in the 1920s by William Randolph Hearst.

Paradise Island was purchased in the 1980s by Donald Trump for $79 million, then sold to Merv Griffin for $400 million. It was last sold for $125 million to the current owner, Sol Kerzner. The current estimated value of the island is about $2 billion USD.

Source: Wikipedia