Bermuda may get a mini-arts festival next summer to mark the beginning of work to transform the empty Club Med site into a new hotel, housing and cultural complex.

The developers chosen by Government to take over the site, St. George's Renaissance Consortium, yesterday unveiled the list of world class cultural institutions they say have expressed a strong interest in coming to Bermuda on a regular basis to perform at the new $100 million site in St. George's.

Wanda Dorosz, the spokeswoman for the consortium, said the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in New York, the New York Choreographic Institute, the Royal Ballet in London, Birmingham Opera, Jazz at the Lincoln Centre New York with Wynton Marsalis, the New York Festival of Song, the Orchestra of St. Luke's from Greenwich Village, New York, and the Royal Court Theatre and Young Vic Theatre from London, have all expressed a “serious interest” in coming to Bermuda.

And she said Judith Jamison, the artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American dance Theatre, was interested in performing in Bermuda next summer in a small festival to launch the project.

Government has given a six month exclusivity deal to Renaissance, which plans to demolish the Club Med building and construct a new 90 bedroom hotel and 90 condominium units in a European piazza-type development with public squares and fountains.

The group - led by the Quorum group of fund management companies based in Toronto, New York and Bermuda - hopes to break ground on the hotel and condos next summer and complete them by 2005.

Renaissance wants to use the existing 450-500 seat theatre underneath Club Med, and use a disco at Fort Victoria as a smaller arts centre. In 2006 and 2007, the group plans to bring on-stream world class theatres and a cultural centre, and top build 60 more villa hotel suites and 60 more condo's.

“Depending on how mischievous (Tourism Minister Renee Webb) let's me be, we may have a soft launch next summer like the Shakespeare Festival with tents, to aim to communicate to Bermuda and the international community next year,” said Mrs Dorosz yesterday.

“One artist who has said she might be prepared to come is Judith Jamison. We also believe we have the opportunity to do a development documentary, starting now that will be the story of the renaissance of St. George's.

“We are hoping that if we do it right, we could find ourselves telling Bermuda's story on Discovery, Arts and Entertainment, and National Geographic television.”

She said there would be a big spin-off for other Island hotels if the Renaissance plan to have regular world-class arts events in St. George's pays off because large numbers of visitors will be attracted to the Island.

Renaissance has until May to finalise a plan that is acceptable to Government, and yesterday Ms Webb said she was confident the group would sign off on a a deal next year.

Explaining why Renaissance was chosen over Bermudian entrepreneur Patrick Bean's SteppingRock consortium, she said: “The proposition offered to us is exactly where the tourism industry globally is positioning itself and we were looking to the cultural aspect of what Bermuda has to offer.

“The prospect of other events was one of the key components that caught Government's eye.

“This group was the most successful group in outlining what they wanted to do that fitted with what we wanted to do in promoting Bermuda as a cultural destination.”

She said the hotel and condos will be built in tandem and there will be no repeat of situations such as at Flatts, where the former Palm Reef Hotel has been demolished and only condos have been built on the site.