Great Harbour Cay

The Mob, The Celebrities, The Demise

 

From the Great Harbour Cay Marina website:

The original development of Great Harbour Cay began in the mid 1960’s with a $38 million investment and the dream of creating a hideaway for a very privileged few. Great Harbour Cay’s close proximity to the southeastern United States combined with its unspoiled beauty and seeming remoteness, made it a tropical, private and very exclusive haven for the rich and famous during the late 1960’s.

Golf course designer Joe Lee fashioned an 18-hole championship golf course on rises of land that overlooked the sea. With over 125 golf courses designed in seven countries, Joe considers the original 18 hole, par 72-regulation golf course to be one of his best. A marina basin lined with waterfront town homes and luxurious yachts became the social center of the community. A magnificent multi-story clubhouse offered sweeping panoramic views of the island from its wooded hillside.

In the beginning, famous and some say the infamous, including Hollywood celebrities, came to play in this idyllic environment. Cary Grant danced the night away in the clubhouse. Brigitte Bardot graced the beaches with her beauty. Jack Nicklaus had a house on a hilltop along the back nine. Earl Blackwell, author of the celebrity best dressed list, enjoyed a home on the island. Great Harbour Cay was popular with the socially elite Rockefeller clan, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Ingrid Bergman and Hugh O’Brian were regular visitors.

The money was the mob’s. It came with Lou Chesler’s purchase of the island in 1966. Lou Chesler?

After Meyer Lansky fled Havana in the face of Castro’s approach, he turned his attention to The Bahamas. He had eyed the islands as another gambling location for years. With his confederate, a Canadian named Lou Chesler, they developed the Lucayan Beach Hotel in Freeport, Grand Bahama. Lou then turned his attention to Great Harbour Cay. Perhaps, Lou’s intention was to seek a gambling license from the government after his building project was complete. And, what a project.

Between 1966 and 1969, Lou built a 3,000 foot airstrip, with a beach club nearby (to fly in and fete prospective investors), blasted a channel through the island’s west side into its interior lagoon, created a marina with townhouses, built a swing bridge over the channel, built a power plant, installed power lines, bulldozed new roads, resurfaced old roads, built a par 72 championship golf course of 7,000 yards designed by Joe Lee with a magnificent clubhouse, sunk 100 wells to service the course, and much, much more.

The gambling casino never came. The golf pros and celebrities stopped coming. The real estate venture collapsed. The golf course closed, though the residents continue to mow 9 holes – bring your own clubs and don’t mind the derelict cars on the fairway. It was a flash mob event, out of nowhere, captivating, and gone.