Stanley Selengut, founder of the
eco-resorts Maho Bay Camps, Harmony Studios and Concordia Eco-Tents
and Studios on St. John, opened a new multi-use facility called the
Concordia Pavilion and Cafe.
The facility
features a 1,500-square-foot covered deck and an open-air
restaurant. The pavilion can accommodate meetings and workshops of
50 or more participants and also can host weddings and yoga and
dance classes.
As in all of
Selengut's properties, green building techniques were used for the
new pavilion.
The deck is made of
rock excavated from the site; hanging baskets on the deck have been
planted with native vines. Water is collected from the roof and
processed to potable standards on site. Glass blocks admit natural
lighting; lighting fixtures and decorative accessories were made at
the Maho Bay Camps' recycled arts center.
Concordia's 51
acres "are designed to grow into a sustainable community,"
according to Selengut, and he noted that the hillside above the
resort has been sub-divided into one-acre lots for future vacation
residences.
"It is possible for
green travelers to enjoy intimacy with nature while staying in
dwellings constructed almost entirely of recycled materials,
powered by the sun and built with site-sensitive techniques that
preserve and protect the fragile eco-system of the U.S. Virgin
Islands," Selengut said.
For details, visit
www.maho.org.
To
contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Gay
Nagle Myers at [email protected].