Kobbe
beach, a popular swimming area among the U.S. troops stationed in
Panama until 1999, will be the site of an ambitious tourist facility
built by Panamanian real-estate giant, Empresas Bern.
Located
on the western bank of the Panama Canal, Kobbe beach will be the site
of a 300-bedroom, seafront hotel which is currently under construction
and is expected to open in late 2005 or early 2006 with an investment
of approximately US$12,000,000. The new hotel will be managed under
the Intercontinental name brand -a multi-national consortium with
3,500 facilities world-wide, which owns the Holiday Inn, Holiday Express,
Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Staybridge, Candlewood Suites and
Indigo brands. (Empresas bern also manages Panama City’s Miramar
Intercontinental Hotel as well as the capital’s Holiday Inn.)
Ft. Kobbe
was originally a small U.S. defense post established in 1918 to guard
the entrance of the Panama Canal. Originally known as Fort Bruja,
the facility was renamed Fort Kobbe to honor Major General William
A. Kobbe, an artillery officer who played a prominent role with the
U.S. forces during the Philippine Insurrection. General Kobbe, who
started his military career as a drummer boy during the Civil War,
died in 1932 at age 91.
With the
signing of the Panama Canal Treaties in 1977, the land and facilities
of the former Canal Zone were gradually transferred from U.S. to Panamanian
control, including Kobbe beach which, due to its proximity to the
country’s capital it was a popular weekend spot for Panamanians
until it closed to the public in the late 1990’s.
