One week before the first 'residents' of Camana Bay, the Cayman Islands' newest town, begin 'life' in a modern community, a group of technical professionals toured the Town.

About thirty members of the Cayman Society of Architects, Surveyors and Engineers (CASE) visited the town and the Cayman International School (CIS) as part of their Site Exploration Tour Series.

CASE members were treated to a detailed walking tour, highlighting construction and technology components of the development's buildings and infrastructure.

The visit culminated in a reception on the fourth floor of the Block 6 office in the Town Centre, scheduled for completion in early 2007.

Chairman of CASE, Burns Conolly, who led the touring party, said that the one-hour tour was at the request of CASE members.

"As this is currently the largest and most complex construction site on Grand Cayman, the council has many requests from members enquiring about the possibility of visiting it and I would like to thank Dart Realty for making this possible and hosting us today," he said.

Mr Conolly said the visit was a historic and educational one, given the rare opportunity to experience the birth of a new town centre in the Islands.

"To see the birth of a new town centre is rare and it's even rarer that we can expose all of the local professional community to its construction process especially with so many unique operations ongoing," he said.

In welcoming CASE members, Dart Realty's Senior Vice President of Construction, Cameron Graham, expressed his pleasure for the visit.

"Camana Bay represents an extraordinary opportunity to design and build a new mixed use village that is uniquely of the place and embodies an authentic sense of community," Mr Graham said.

"It's a pleasure to have the local architects, engineers and surveyors tour our development and see how our goals and philosophies are translated into architecture and landscaping for now and future generations to experience."

One of the areas visited is the Cayman International School - located on the southern end of Camana Bay - which will be opened on 4 September 2006 for the new school year.

The school's new US$20 million facilities will offer approximately 57,000 square feet of space with an initial enrollment capacity of 240 students that will be spread across the 13.2-acre campus.

Elementary, Middle School and High School sections will be available, beginning at Nursery and ending at Grade 12.

The facilities will include a gym, tennis courts, swimming pool, football field, music rooms recording studio, science lab, library, computer labs, 32 classrooms and other amenities.

Camana Bay is a 500-acre, mixed used, master planned community in the District of George Town that extends from Seven Mile Beach to the North Sound.

The Town Centre, filled with Caribbean-inspired architecture, beautifully designed courtyards, streets and walkways, is scheduled to open in late 2007.

Phase one of Camana Bay will have over 400,000 square feet of built space including residential apartments, garden and commercial offices, and a variety of retail and entertainment venues including a state-of-the art multiplex cinema.

Also there will be six restaurants featuring different atmosphere and cuisines overlooking the harbour in the Town Centre.

An 85,000 square foot Class A office building of four floors with picturesque views of the harbour will also form part of the development.