The Maho Bay Camps eco-resort is surrounded by the Virgin Islands National Park. courtesy: maho bay camps
Travelers looking to relax in an environmentally friendly resort may have one less option next year, as negotiations continue to extend the lease for Maho Bays Camp on Saint John in the United States Virgin Islands. Since Stanley Stelengut founded the resort in 1976 it has hosted up to 20,000 guests each year as they enjoyed white sand beaches, sunset views during dinner, and craft classes through the popular “Trash to Treasure” program, which includes an outdoor glass studio. Unless it successfully extends its lease Maho Bay will close by July 31, 2012, most likely along with its glass studio.
A glassblowing demonstration for resort guests. courtesy: Maho Bay Camps
Maho Bay has housed a glass studio since 1998, when visiting artists Larry LiVolsi and staff “would fire up the furnace occasionally and stamp sun catchers, shell dishes, and work on their basic skills,” said Maho art director Ginger Kreofsky. In 2000, four artists from UrbanGlass planted the seeds for the “Trash to Treasure” program when they visited the resort to make pieces for an exhibition at the National Park Service conference, taking place later that year. “Evan Binkley, Robert Panepinto, Mana Shimomura, and Christian Thornton were amazing and showed us what could actually be made out of our glass,” Kreofsky told the Hot Sheet. “To say that we were blown away would be a gross understatement.”
A year later, the “Trash to Treasure” program was born as a way to turn 100% of the resort’s glass trash into art. The glass studio works primarily with clear glass from Corona, Miller Lite, and rum and juice bottles, with occasional green batches courtesy of the guests drinking Heineken, Pellegrino, and Ting. Glassblowers Gregory Lee and Mariel Bass use the recycled glass to create pieces for the resort’s Art Gallery, as well as while they lead nightly glassblowing demonstrations and teach classes for guests (the paperweight class is the most popular of the resort’s art classes, followed by batik).
The glassware in Maho Bay's Art Gallery was made with 100% recycled glass. courtesy: Maho Bay Camps
As of yet, Maho Bay has been unable to extend its lease by even one year, a far cry from the long-term lease it hopes to secure. The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit conservation organization, failed to raise the necessary funds to purchase the land at Maho Bay, which is surrounded by land already protected as part of the Virgin Islands National Park. The current asking price is $23 million, down $9 million since 2008. The resort has yet to hear of any other prospective buyers.
If negotiations fail with Giri Giri, the corporation that owns the property, the glass studio may close with the resort by July 31, 2012. While the textiles program will probably move to Estate Concordia Preserve, Maho Bay’s sister resort, the glass studio remains in limbo. “We would love for it to be implemented at another property on the island, but we are just beginning the process of finding an appropriate spot,” said Maho Bay Resort Manager Scott Drennan.
In an e-mail newsletter, Selengut remained optimistic. “Whatever happens, I am proud that during the past 35 years Maho has gained a worldwide reputation as one of the first and leading eco-resorts,” he wrote.
—Grace Duggan