BY MORGAN LEGEL
Journal Staff
Mark S. Baldyga, owner and CEO of The Baldyga Group LLC, which did business as The Sandcastle Dinner Theatre among other tourist attractions, restaurants and nightclubs, recently requested a qualifying certificate from the Guam Economic Development Authority to renovate and overhaul the dinner theatre, as well as build a new restaurant and create an entire complex, which will be named BG Gardens.
Baldyga applied for the QC on April 29, followed by a June 8 public hearing and a June 23 presentation to GEDA.
The project is estimated to cost more than $10.5 million, and Baldyga is requesting the certificate so he can add to what he has already invested.
However, Baldyga told GEDA board members the project would move ahead with or without their support. He said tourists deserve such a facility.
The Sandcastle had been shuttered for more than two years due to COVID and has been hemorrhaging money during that time, he said.
“We drained our bank accounts and lost a lifetime of savings,” Baldyga said.
The dinner theatre will have 500 seats, as well as an IMAX-sized screen of 47 feet by 100 feet.
With the renovated theatre, comes a new, island-themed dinner show, Kårera.
“Escaping a terrible storm with the help of their mystical guide A’Ate, two visitors cross through a magic suitcase portal into a lush and vibrant tropical realm filled with enchantment and intrigue,” Baldyga said during the June 23 presentation as he described the story line of the show.
“An epic journey through the sights and sounds of the Pacific-island culture and mysticism, Kårera is a story of the adventure and discovery, in which the path home is never clear, and where magic and wonder reign supreme.”
The stage for the show will be 15,000 square meters, which he said is larger than any stage currently on Broadway.
The project also includes a Greek restaurant — Anemos Mediterranean Restaurant — which is planned as a sidewalk restaurant and bar.
For more information on Anemos, see “Big steps forward, group plans several changes to entertainment complex” in the May 2 issue of the Journal.
Zoh, which translates as “light” from Greek, will be the new concept at the former Globe nightclub. That renovation will include private booths, cabanas, multiple bars, live dancers and computerized lighting and video. Baldyga said the building has been taken back to its concrete in order to begin rebuilding.
Mou Muse — a speak-easy-type bar will be incorporated into the complex as well. Mou Muse is Manhattan-inspired and will have a secret entrance, Baldyga said. It will be modeled after a New York living space.
When finished, the complex will offer work to 188 employees.
Baldyga also said that tourists won’t be the only ones reaping benefits, the project has a lot to offer the local community as well. Benefits include a non-profit vocational dance training school, a zero rental fee usage of the theatre two nights per year, a rotational art gallery for local artists in Zoh, Baldyga’s personal investment and improvement of the public sidewalks, and a sidewalk statue of the first governor of Guam.
While the restaurants and nightclubs are estimated to open within the next few months, the theatre and show is planned for the first quarter of 2023, in February. mbj
