Hamilton?s waterfront could be in for an upgrade incorporating park space, restaurants and boutiques, according to banker Philip Butterfield.

Mr. Butterfield, who sits on the Waterfront Task Force overseeing plans for the redevelopment of Hamilton?s Harbour, said part of the mandate for the project was to plan ahead for the 900-foot cruise ships that are due to replace the current 600-foot models in the next few years, but the scope was much broader.

?This is a chance for us to redefine what the waterfront and the city of Hamilton looks like,? he said.

Mr. Butterfield is one of a triumvirate leading this process, with banking brass from Capital G, James Gibbons and Butterfield Bank?s Alan Thompson also sitting on the Waterfront Task Force.

?We have an opportunity to reshape what is, in my judgement, the most beautiful harbour in the world,? he said. ?We can have far more open space along the water?s edge; we can have boutiques, restaurants with inside and outside dining. It could be spectacular.?

Mr. Butterfield said the Hamilton waterfront was little changed from the way it was in his childhood.

?That is not necessarily progress. There are cities that have optimised the use of their waterfront locations. We haven?t done that,? Mr. Butterfield explained citing chic harbourside cities such as Singapore, Monaco, Nice, Boston and Baltimore.

Ultimately, Mr. Butterfield said the redevelopment could mean ?what has been the traditional retail presence in Hamilton could move?.

Mr. Butterfield, who is chief executive of the Bank of Bermuda, is seeing that shift first hand with the bank?s acquisition earlier this year of Front Street real estate that was for 146 years the retail site of Trimingham Brothers Ltd.

Plans are now being finalised for the site?s redevelopment into retail banking and office space.

?One of the ways to deal with the open space issue is for the planners to allow increased density in Hamilton,? he said this could be for both residential and commercial developments.

He is personally in favour of allowing more high rise structures in Hamilton, and said he would prefer to see more glass structures in place of the common concrete construction.

He said Government could allow more dense development in Hamilton while putting demands on developers to maintain tracts of green space throughout the rest of the Island, as part of the planning approval process.

?We have been timid ? and these are my words ? on how we have dealt with this problem. We have to have rigorous debate on what makes sense,? Mr. Butterfield said, recognising decisions must be made if Bermuda is to meet infrastructure challenges because of limited space left available for development.