By Dave DeWitte, Savannah Morning News, Ga.
Dec. 6--Toot if you love Westin!
Looking for extra sparkle to make its opening ceremony special, Westin officials had the harbor tug Georgia chug
past the ceremonies during the national anthem. It flew an American flag and shot a plume of water from a fire
hose into the sky.
At the end of singer-songwriter Philip Myers' rendering of the "Star Spangled Banner," the Georgia enthusiastically
tooted its horn. But Westin managers got more toot for their money. The freighter P&D Ned Lloyd Santos, bound
for sea, sounded off as well.
"What timing!" several members of the audience said.
John Cottrill, general manager of the Westin, joked that the horns would be the resort's morning wake-up call.
Veteran developer John McCleskey sat quietly through a ribbon cutting Friday for the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort
as a series of speakers extolled the public-private partnership that made the development possible. Some of them
credited his vision for developing Hutchinson Island.
McCleskey didn't speak. If anything, the project manager for CSX Realty Development Corp. may have emitted a slight
glow.
"It was a real high," McCleskey said after the ceremony.
Friday's opening of the 403-room Westin gave birth to a vision that began almost 15 years ago when McCleskey bought
a homely, 107-acre stretch of Savannah River waterfront.
The purchase began a complex series of transactions that included the bankruptcy of an Australian development partner,
its purchase by transportation giant CSX Corp., and the agreement of local officials to take a big financial gamble
by building an international trade center on the island that would generate demand for the resort accommodations.
McCleskey envisioned a master plan for the island that combined the resort, trade center, housing and businesses
in a planned development.
CSX hopes to reap financial rewards by developing the remainder of the 520-plus acre property. But McCleskey thinks
Savannah soon will see that the real wisdom of choosing Hutchison Island for public investment is the chance to
economically revitalize downtown Savannah without tearing a huge hole in its historic fabric.
"That's going to be the real benefit of Hutchinson Island," McCleskey said. "It's going to be the
economic support system for the Historic District."
When the Westin doors swung open Friday, the reality of what could happen on the island really began to sink in.
The 200 or so dignitaries in attendance barely seemed to notice the unfinished cupolas at the top of the building,
instead marveling at the view of the Savannah Riverfront, the elegant appointments, and the crisply uniformed Westin
employees opening doors and offering directions.
"What you see here today really demonstrates that we made the right choice when we brought in Westin as our
hotel partner," said Steve Crosby, vice president and general manager of CSX Real Property Inc.
Westin operates a similar-sized hotel on Hilton Head Island that opened in 1985. The two resorts will share some
human resources and information services personnel.
Employees of the Hilton Head property were among 30 or so "pre-opening associates" from other Westin
properties who helped pull together all the threads needed to open the partly completed hotel on Hutchinson.
Also pitching in was Westin project manager Tom Dupar, whose grandfather, Frank Dupar, founded the company in Seattle
in 1930.
"Granddad was a plumber who had done a lot of work for hotels," Dupar said. "When the big crash
hit, they couldn't pay him for his work and he ended up owning a lot of hotels."
Dupar oversaw the delivery of 21 tractor-trailer loads of operating supplies to the new hotel. He is the 14th family
member to work for the company.
Many employees worked long hours preparing for Friday's opening.
"The food's going to be gorgeous today," said Alonzo Wilson, a cook going back to work Friday morning
via the Savannah River water taxi. He had completed a previous 12-hour shift at 1 a.m.
Wilson said riding the water taxi reminded him of going to work on the Staten Island Ferry when he worked at a
restaurant in New York City.
With the Westin opened and the trade center due to be completed in May, Crosby said "all the infrastructure
is in place. It's just a matter of getting people exposed to it and seeing what we have here."
Work on the 403-room Westin will take months more to complete, although all guest rooms are scheduled to be completed
by Jan. 1.
Plenty of developments in addition to the resort, golf course and trade center will be coming to Hutchinson Island
in the months ahead. The Greenbrier Spa is scheduled to open in March, and a new interchange on U.S. 17 to the
island from the Savannah River bridge is set for completion in May. Residential development on the island also
is likely to begin in 2000, Crosby said.
McCleskey said his goal will be development of a complete community with broad appeal.
"Keeping the quality level up is, to me, the most important thing," McCleskey said. "I see this
being a community for a broad range of Savannahians, not just expensive golf-course housing. I see patio homes,
townhomes and retail stores. I see a complete community here."
Speakers referred to the $98 million Savannah Harbor project -- which includes the resort, golf course and spa
-- and the $73.4 million trade center project as the largest public-private partnership in coastal Georgia.
The cooperation that made them possible was more than just ribbon-cutting talk, McCleskey said.
"What impressed me more than anything else was the way everybody involved became so committed," he said.
"It was almost as if failure was not an option."
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