Governor Bryan Announces Start of Restoration Of Government House and The Battery

The upstairs dining room at The Battery in St. John, February 2020.

February 6, 2020

Work Set to Begin on Both Buildings on February 14

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS—Governor Albert Bryan Jr. has announced that contracts have been finalized to begin the restoration of Government House on St. Thomas and The Battery on St. John.
Work is scheduled to begin February 14 and will entail refurbishing the floors, painting and restoring walls and ceilings; fixing plumbing and landscaping.
Both buildings were destroyed by Hurricanes Irma and Maria and require extensive cleaning and restoration.

J. Benton Construction LLC, a locally owned company founded in 2006, was awarded the contract for Government House with a bid of $3,678,075. The estimated construction time is 365 calendar days.

Among the projects J. Benton has done are the Government Employees Retirement System building on St. Croix; various construction jobs at King and Rohlsen airports; the Virgin Islands Police Department’s K-9 Operations Center; and the Captain Morgan Visitor’s Center and Diageo Administration Building.

The contract for the restoration of The Battery was awarded to Custom Builders, which submitted a bid of $1,131,538. The estimated construction time is 210 calendar days.

Custom Builders has been operating in the Virgin Islands since 1986 and was the contractor that got King Airport on St. Thomas reopened nine days after Hurricane Maria. Other projects Custom Builders have done are the Enighed Pond commercial port; building the Westin swimming pool; and renovations to Caneel Bay.

Funding for the restoration of Government House is provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and funding for restoration of The Battery comes through insurance money.