St. George?s is finally near to closing a deal on the Old Club Med hotel property, the mayor of St. George?s said yesterday during the annual Peppercorn Ceremony.

Tourists and school children were among the many who turned out to watch the annual ceremony in the Town Square in St. George?s attended by the Bermuda Regiment band and honour guard, and a host of local dignitaries including Acting Premier Neletha Butterfield, Governor Sir John Vereker, the mayors of Hamilton, St. George?s and Lyme Regis, England and a host of others.

St. George?s Mayor E. Michael Jones used the Peppercorn Ceremony to reflect on the progress that St. George?s is making.

Calling the Old Club Med property the ?hotel on the hill? Mayor Jones said: ?It looks very close, folks. This will not only create jobs but support our businesses.?

In March it was announced that the hotel chain Four Seasons has been lined up to manage the new resort on the site of the old Club Med Hotel.

The chain, which owns and manages some of the most upscale hotels in the world, will manage the property if the St. George?s Consortium reaches agreement with Government to take over the property.

Mr. Jones also said the St. George?s Foundation?s capital campaign to raise $7.3 million was going smoothly.

?I want to say thank you to the Bermuda Government for a $1.1 million contribution over the next four years,? Mr. Jones said.

At the ceremony he also spoke of the work that had been done to get St. George?s back to a respectable state after Hurricane Fabian in September 2003.

?Our success is measured in quality rather than in quantity,? he said. ?The fact that everything looks so nice is a testament to the commitment and dedication of everyone involved.?

He said that work was continuing to build a world heritage visitors centre and the town was also preparing for larger cruise ships and more passengers in the future.

The Peppercorn Ceremony takes place every April when members of the Masonic lodge pay one year?s rent to the Government with a solitary peppercorn.

Since 1816, the rent payment has covered a year?s tenancy in the Old State Hall ? Bermuda?s oldest stone building that was constructed with turtle oil and lime mortar back in 1620.

A crowd of VIPs, tourists, schoolchildren and proud mothers lined the square to watch the Regiment Band and Drums march alongside the honour guard yesterday.

Sir John thanked Mr. Jones for his ?characteristic warm welcome?.

?The Mayor has become synonymous with welcome in St. George?s,? Sir John told the crowd. ?I have been delighted to see the progress he has made as Mayor.?

He added: ?It is a little too much to hope that these visitors will have any clearer idea than we have on what this ceremony is about.?

As the Governor spoke, Bermuda Regiment Soldiers began to faint from the heat of the day. At least six soldiers fell face down onto the asphalt and had to be helped by Regiment medics.

The Governor touched on the fact that Bermuda celebrates 500 years of discovery this year.

?The islands that Juan de Bermudez glimpsed five hundred years ago were unpopulated, but teeming with natural resources,? said the Governor. ?He might get a surprise if he came over the horizon again today. He would find the islands linked by bridges and enlarged by reclaimed land, but populated more densely than anywhere else on earth; he would find 130 miles of roads, but with some 123 miles of vehicles if they were all put end to end; he would find wealth unimaginable in the 16th Century, but social issues that were all too familiar to him.?

The Governor said that in the last 500 years human existence has been transformed from an everyday struggle for simple survival, to an everyday expectation of a long and prosperous life.

?But it has also been transformed from the expectation of unlimited natural resources to an everyday struggle with the consequences of our prosperity,? he said. ?Yes, the continuation of that prosperity is a reasonable expectation, but no, it is not an entitlement; yes, it can benefit many of us, but no, it will not necessarily benefit all; yes, it may bring an easy life, but no, not without hard work and difficult decisions.

?It is right that much thought should be given, in this quincentennial year, to the sustainability of the development of Bermuda within the limits of our human and physical resources, and to how we can ensure that all have the opportunity to share in the benefits.?

The Governor said that St George?s has been at the heart of the Bermuda story.

?It is the site of the first settlement, the first church, the first parliament, the first Government House,? he said. ?Its World Heritage status is a testament to the way successive generations have cared for its fine legacy of buildings, streets and waterfront.?

He also invited the public to an open house at Government House on May 28.

?I hope all of you in St George?s, and indeed throughout the Island, will give us an opportunity to make you feel welcome then, just as we are always welcomed, both here and everywhere in Bermuda,? he said.

To close the ceremony, the Governor ordered that the Free Masons pay their rent ? offered on a silver platter atop a velvet cushion ? and allow the Old State House to immediately be used for a meeting of ?Her Majesty?s Council?.