Paradise Island
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For the DC Comics fictional island formerly known as Paradise Island, see Themyscira
Paradise Island is a small island located at 25.08, -77.31 in the Bahamas, adjacent to the central island of New Providence (Nassau). It is best known for its sprawling beach resorts, the largest being Atlantis.
Paradise Island is connected to the island of New Providence by two bridges that cross Nassau Harbour. The first was built in 1966 and the second in the late 1990s.
Paradise Island was formerly known as Hog Island. Huntington Hartford, the A&P supermarket heir, arrived on Hog Island in 1959 because his sister Josephine Hartford Bryce lived in Xanadu near Lyford Cay. Josephine was married to Ivar Bryce, Ian Fleming's best friend from Eton and Janet Milford Haven's uncle. Hartford bought Hog Island from Axel Wenner Gren and changed the name to Paradise Island. He hired the Palm Beach architect John Volk and built the Ocean Club, Cafe Martinique, Hurricane Hole, the Golf Course, among other island landmarks. He also acquired and installed the Cloisters, a 14th-century French Augustinian monastery originally purchased and dismantled by William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s. He hired Gary Player to be the Golf Pro and Pancho Gonzales to be the Tennis Pro. His opening of Paradise Island in 1962 was covered in Newsweek and Time magazines. He hired the staff from Eden Roc at Hotel Du Cap to work off season at the Ocean Club. He had the fireworks for the opening party flown in from the South of France. He had a flag and Paradise Beach was featured on a Bahamian three-dollar bill in 1966 (introduced as a close equivalent to the Bahamian Pound, which was replaced at the rate of $1=7/-, so $3=21/-).
When Hartford applied for a gambling license for Paradise Island, the Minister of Tourism, Sir Stafford Sands told Huntington he needed a partner. Hartford ended up choosing Jim Crosby of Mary Carter Paint Company. Huntington sold off most of his Paradise Island properties over the next few years to Crosby. He sold his Paradise Island house to the Irish actor Richard Harris and left the Bahamas. Jim Crosby renamed his company Resorts International Hotel and Casino.
While Hartford owned the Island, the Beatles' film Help! and the James Bond film Thunderball were partially filmed there. His wife Diane Hartford had small parts in each. Casino Royale, another James Bond movie released in 2006, was filmed at the Ocean Club on Paradise Island and Diane Hartford has a small speaking part.
[edit] Paradise Island's Early Resort Development
Hartford also acquired and installed the Cloisters, a French 14th-century Augustinian monastery, originally purchased and dismantled in the 1920s by William Randolph Hearst.
Hartford sold off most of his Paradise Island properties over the next few years to Crosby. Jim Crosby renamed his company Resorts International Hotel and Casino. Hartford sold his house on Paradise Island to the Irish actor Richard Harris and left the Bahamas.
Paradise Island was purchased in the 1980s by Donald Trump for $79 million, then sold to Merv Griffin for $400 million. It was last sold for $125 million to the current owner, Sol Kerzner. The current estimated value of the island is about $2 billion USD.
