Announcement on future of Marconi campus coming today

SYDNEY — Premier Stephen McNeil and the president of the Nova Scotia Community College, Don Bureaux, will be in Sydney today for an announcement on the future of the NSCC Marconi campus. A news conference has been scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion. There’s speculation the provincial government will announce a feasibility study to look at possibly relocating all or part of the community college campus to downtown Sydney.

The provincial government has said it’s currently working on the development of a “scoping study,” which involves defining the scope of a new development including key points such as the impact relocating the campus may have, infrastructure requirements, and budgetary estimates.

McNeil pledged during the spring election campaign to at least study the idea of moving the Marconi campus to Sydney’s waterfront.

Talk about a potential waterfront site for the Marconi campus has been discussed in political circles since at least June 2015.

Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Cecil Clarke and then-transportation minister Geoff MacLellan confirmed at that time there were preliminary discussions underway to see whether such a development could be feasible in downtown Sydney.

The Marconi campus is currently located on the SydneyGlace Bay highway adjacent to Cape Breton University. The NSCC leases the campus building from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.