The steel structure of the new St Regis hotel in St George’s is expected to start to go up this month, it was revealed yesterday.

The news came as Jamahl Simmons, the tourism minister, delivered a progress report on construction at the building site.

Mr Simmons emphasised that the development, with a hotel, casino and two condominium buildings, would keep the beach at Fort St Catherine “open and accessible to the public”.

He said workmen were busy on elevators and staircases and that concrete retaining walls behind the hotel had been completed, as well as two water tanks.

Mr Simmons added the resort’s steel structure would start to go up early in November and be completed by April of next year. Foundation work will start for the first residential condo building before the end of the year and construction should start in February 2019.

Mr Simmons said the 55-strong construction team was made up of 36 Bermudians and 19 work permit-holders from developers Hotelco.

A total of 14 of the island staff are from St George’s and one of the project’s three subcontractors is ACL, a St George’s company, which has seven workers on site.

In addition, eight homes for 22 workers have been rented in St George’s for site staff.

Mr Simmons added seven more homes for 38 extra staff are expected to be rented in the first quarter of next year.

He predicted that the project would bring a brisk trade to the East End and highlighted the Somers Supermarket, which provided daily meals for construction staff.

Kim Swan, the MP for St George’s West, who has pushed for the reopening of the town’s golf course, said he remained “in touch with the developer to get a date for when this will take place”.