Dream Projects: Poseidon Resort Would Succeed By Sinking Under Sea
Poseidon will be positioned 45 feet underwater.
L. Bruce Jones is the President of U.S. Submarines Inc., a firm that designs and manufactures small submarines that carry tourists. For a dozen years he has nurtured a vision of creating an underwater hotel called the Poseidon Undersea Resort. He and his team of engineers have spent the past seven or eight years refining the design of the resort, a 40,000-sq-ft structure. It will consist of a series of modules forming a long spine with 24 suites branching off, as well as a 100-seat restaurant/bar, two spa treatment rooms and a library. If completed it is likely to be the world’s first permanent one-atmosphere seafloor structure.
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“We have completed the financing and are fine-tuning the design and engineering,” says Jones. The resort will be located just off a 222-acre private island in Fiji, where a 1,000-meter airstrip has just been completed. “The island is completely protected by a coral reef. The resort will be located 45 ft underwater, and accessed by an elevator or spiral staircase.”
The resort’s modules “will be constructed near Portland, Oregon in a dry dock, floated out of the dry dock, and maneuvered on to a heavy lift ship,” explains Jones. Once they arrive in Fiji the modules “will be attached to pilings, ballasted so they sink, and bolted in place. Then we’ll take umbilicals (power, water, sewage lines) and hook them up to the pier.” Jones sees no need to build prototypes of the modules, because the subs he builds are far more complicated.
“We have a $215 million capitalization,” says Jones. Poseidon’s investors include “one major investment group and a number of minor investors. I have a controlling interest. Our investors are not in a rush. We’ll open in 23 months [May 2016]. We’ve got it all planned.” 225,000 people have signed up through the Poseidon website to receive information and updates about the resort.
