Jeffrey Epstein's bizarre blue-striped building on private island raised alarm (nbcnews.com)
Excerpts:
The bizarre blue-striped building on Jeffrey Epstein's private Caribbean island was supposed to be a music pavilion with a strikingly different design, according to permit records viewed by NBC News.
The building, shaped like a giant box and initially topped with a gold dome, has fueled rampant speculation and online conspiracy theories.
Drawings supplied by Epstein's architects to the U.S. Virgin Islands agency that oversees coastal development show that it was designed to be a haven for music: an octagonal 3,500-square foot pavilion housing a grand piano.
But questions remain over whether it was built according to the plans that were submitted to the Department of Planning and Natural Resources.
Those 2010 plans, which were part of a permit application that raised concerns inside the agency, included drawings of a building that looks almost nothing like the structure that was built.
The drawings show a building with a 10-foot facade, stone exterior and multiple windows on the front. The structure that was erected has no windows or stone exterior on the front and appears to rise at least 30 feet.
One Department of Planning and Natural Resources official acknowledged that there were differences.
"The major difference seems to be in the shape of the building itself," Marlon Hibbert of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources said in an email request that contained a link to a photo of the odd-looking structure.
"In the link you provided the building looks rectangular and in the drawings it looked octagonal."
But neither Hibbert nor his fellow top officials responded to subsequent requests asking if the agency approved the building as it now appears.
It's no surprise that Epstein would have wanted a grand music room on his private island. Friends and former co-workers have described Epstein, a wealthy financier now accused of trafficking and sexually abusing young girls, as a talented pianist.
The permit issued to Epstein's company allowed for the building of an 1,800-square foot music room, according to records viewed by NBC News.
The blue-striped structure sits on a look-out point on the southeastern edge of Little St. James island, which Epstein purchased in 1998 for $7.95 million. The building is surrounded by an expansive terrace painted bright white with red shapes. Locals say the structure's gold dome was blown away during Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Source (wearethene.ws)
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