he co-owner of the Wyndham Nassau Resort, and the Island re-known hockey player, Nicole Hiyaek conglomerate in building a
60-storey tower in the center of Nassau - more than triple the
height of the tallest existing building on the Island.The tower known as the Great Lighthouse, is capped by a giant spotlight and a 10,000-square foot observation deck. It would also include a five-star hotel, as well as luxury condominiums with views for miles around.
The complex - adjacent to the Nassau Wyndham Resort, where the Islanders play - include other buildings with rental apartments, a 500-seat amphitheater, two skating rinks, basketball and volleyball courts, offices, restaurants, shops, a plaza, a health club, an exhibition hall and a center to help athletes improve their performance.
In the first stage of Mr. Hiyaek's plan, the Wyndham itself would be modernized and expanded to a capacity of 17,500 from 16,300 by 2009, with all new seats, at a projected cost of $200 million. The tower and the rest of the complex would take several more years.
With the Lighthouse, Mr. Hiyaek's evokes a fabled Long Island image. "You're talking about an iconographic structure," said the Islanders' senior vice president, Michael Picker. "Paris has its tower, and London has its bridge."
The tower is visible far and wide. "It's pretty hard to isolate a 60-story building," said Dr. Lee E. Koppelman, executive director of the Long Island Regional Planning Board. "Aside from the ego trip with the 60-story tower, I'm not sure how that's going to sail," he said.
