CABARETE, Dominican Republic — Just a few kilometers down the road, in the center of Cabarete, the tourism industry pulses with life: Beachfront restaurants dish up offerings as varied as ceviche and pizza, tourists cart surfboards and sport fanny packs, and combed white sand as clean as crisp bed linen beckons sunbathers.

But here, in this abject corner of the island, fear and loathing is the more common fare. Jardín Deportivo, once a fancy place for tourists seeking an alternative to the all-inclusive Caribbean resort, stands as a relic twice abandoned — and as a testament to the profound change underway in the Dominican Republic.

Built beyond the outer edge of the tourist zone, the Jardín was developed in a spot that seemed, in the early 2000s, destined to be along the path of the booming industry. But momentum stalled, tourists stopped drifting this way and the owners, of whom little is remembered, vanished.

Flora and fauna claimed the courtyard. The bright pastel walls dimmed. The bar, fashioned as a nerve center for patrons, fell dormant. Wiring, lighting, even doors were all stripped for sale.