MARY'S FANCY--General Pension Fund APS St. Maarten has reached agreement with the property owners for the purchase of Mary's Fancy Estate, which includes the plantation house and surrounding land. This purchase comes after many decades of interest to purchase the property by numerous parties. The price paid for the estate was not disclosed by APS.
The signing of the notarial deed was at the offices of notary Meredith Boekhoudt on Monday, witnessed by representatives of APS and heirs of owner the late Elisabeth Reitz.
Reitz came to St. Maarten from Germany in 1975 and purchased the Mary's Fancy property from Tom Vincent. The ownership of the property had changed hands several times in the 20th century.
With the original structures and ruins in Cul-de-Sac, the estate was once home to the famous Gianni's restaurant that boasted countless international celebrities among its patrons. The restaurant had been established under the ownership of and was operated under the management of the late Miss Reitz.
The plantation house, across from Emilio Wilson Estate, was used in the past for social gatherings between government leaders and the public.
The ruins are in a populated living area with dense vegetation growing around all buildings. These include a large boiling house, a domestic construction and an oven, which are among the older structures preserved on the estate.
The purchase of this landmark represents "a genuine opportunity to preserve and protect part of St. Maarten's patrimony and history" for APS.
The estate remains an interesting subject for archaeological and architectural research, which has already indicated that certain walls of the boiling house, for example, may have been built in several periods.
APS is committed to preserving the estate and maintain its historical and ecological importance as its contribution to the country's heritage. This is in addition to subscribing to the aspirations and wishes of the environmental community of St. Maarten.
"We are certainly in favour of restoring, as much as possible, the older structures on the estate, including the plantation house, originally used as sugar factory, and which was constructed in the latter part of the 18th century. As a well-intentioned corporate citizen, our fund recognizes the estate as a national symbol, which should, by all means be protected, as a contribution to the country's nation-building initiatives," said APS director Kendra Arnell.
She embraced the opportunity to protect this estate, its structures and surroundings that have played a meaningful role in St. Maarten's history. Future generations should be able to experience and discover their own connections to these grounds as well.
APS Board Chairman Franklyn Richards said that the fund is "particularly excited about this particular investment, considering the opportunities granted for a future injection into the island's economy, by designing a future project on the estate that would be both viable and self-sufficient."
The acquisition of the historical place is in keeping with the investment goals of APS, which are executed through a carefully planned investment programme, designed to safeguard pension capital and generate a minimum rate of return on the long term, in order to ensure that pension benefits can be paid to APS participants, when the time arises.
While the estate has been home to a sizeable number of dogs, throughout the years, provisions have additionally been made to ensure the well-being of the remaining dogs that were under the care of the late Elisabeth Reitz.
