Page 12 - Club Rockley

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Chapter 4
The Various Stages 1975 to 1995.
The builder who won the contract for the first phase was Jack Johnson, an American who had been in Barbados for some years and who had completed some good contracts, reputedly ‘on time and within price ‘, which we knew already were vital factors for the survival of any development. The first phase was to be the biggest of any we did 150 apartments in four clusters, each with it’s swimming pool, laundry room and drying area, and each with it’s own landscaped gardens and car park: plus the rebuilding /conversion of the old Golf Club House and surrounds , into a swimming pool with swim up bar, entertainment terrace, squash courts, tennis courts, restaurant with full professional kitchens and a disco which we named “The Rendezvous Room” and which was to prove very popular. Also a professional arrival area and a “Front desk” for the Hotel operation we had planned and for which a renowned local Hotelier, Alfred Taylor, had already been signed up as the “Opening Manager”.
In 1976, when work on the development started , the restoration of the Golf Course was some way off, because there was a covenant preventing golf until 1980, in order to protect the new Course at “Durants Plantation”, in the ‘Providence’ area, quite near the Airport, which was then known as “Seawell Airport”. Jack Johnson had a tough time in completing the first phase on time, due to particularly heavy / rainy wet seasons in 1977 and 1978, but made it ‘by the skin of his teeth’ and we were able to open in time for the winter season of 1978. The open- ing ceremony was performed by the Hon Bernard St. John QC, MP.
The entertainment for the opening night was by the superb Barbados Dance Theatre, the opening ceremony went off well and Rockley Resort Hotel was under way!
It was as well that we were able to open on time because the “ABC” team had spent quite some time with Max Ward, the Chair- man of “Wardair”, a very fine Airline/charter company with HQ in Toronto, which we had visited and negotiated a contract for Rockley Resort Hotel’s first winter season; the season of 1978 to 1979.