Marconi campus a core asset
Government documents discuss move to downtown
There is a relative prosperity gap between Cape Breton, the province and the country, and the Marconi campus is a core asset that generates economic, cultural and social development on the island, a briefing note on the possible move of the campus states.
The note was among documents the Cape Breton Post obtained from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal through an application under Freedom of Information. The Post had requested all correspondence, reports and briefing notes related to the possible move of the Nova Scotia Community College’s Marconi campus into downtown Sydney to see what was being said within the department about the proposal.
Premier Stephen McNeil announced last month he is committed to seeing the move happen, and a government tender was issued seeking a consultant to study the move.
Some of the records obtain by the Post were redacted based on information that would reveal the substance of the deliberations of executive council, advice by or for a public body or minister, and unreasonable invasion of person privacy.
“The Cape Breton economy is in a state of transition defined by population decline, high unemployment rates, lower than average earnings and lower educational achievement,” the April 6, 2017, NSCC briefing note states.
“Cape Breton’s future economic success is dependent on the ability to recruit, train and employ skilled labour. Also, it is fundamentally important to create opportunities for the 30 (per cent) of Cape Breton people currently not connected to the workforce and lacking a trade or college education.”
It goes on to say a downtown NSCC campus could contribute to building a competitive and sustainable economy, contribute to a vibrant downtown and strengthen specialized programming opportunities in Cape Breton.
On June 3, 2015, the Cape Breton Post first reported that Geoff MacLellan, then minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, had confirmed he received a letter from Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Cecil Clarke proposing the downtown facility. At the time MacLellan said it was “very early in the game.”
In internal emails dated July 2015, Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal staff indicated they had started contacting provincial government staff to collect information on the province’s existing footprint in Sydney. That was intended to identify information such as sites, square footage and rents.
The disclosure also included maps attached to a Sept. 22, 2017, email of the properties under the control of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal and Nova Scotia Lands in the downtown Sydney area for potential use. They include lands in the Harbourside Commercial Park.
They also compiled a listing of 47 waterfront properties and their owners and the acreage involved along the eastern side of Sydney harbour, from the end of Kings Road, along the Esplanade, and the square footage.
Among the information that was redacted from the documents provided to The Post were the expectations outlined in the project’s charter and what changes should be considered.
Internal emails also note that Michael Merritt, who was then CAO of the CBRM, identified five potential elements to the project, including the community college, provincial office consolidation, a library, commercial and/or residential component and municipal offices.
Another September 2015 email noted that the province expropriated 117 acres in 1968 to comprise the Marconi campus site and in 1975 it gave the board of governors of the College of Cape Breton a 99-year lease on all of the lands except the 40 acres that made up the adult vocational training site. It later became the Marconi campus. The main building has been there since at least 1975. It states that the current assessed value for tax purposes of the property, land and buildings was $19,593,200.
Also redacted were details from a document titled Feasible Options for Proposed Sydney Complex, which included initial analysis of the pros and cons of the move in October 2015.
Redacted from an April 6, 2017, briefing note titled, “Cape Breton Revitalization: NSCC’s Marconi Campus,” were all nine items under the heading essential elements for a Marconi downtown campus, specific next steps and most of the vision for a downtown campus, other than it would be “the focal point for a revitalized downtown, the heart of the community.”
An email from Merritt dated April 11, 2017, provided a synopsis of the project and also discussed next steps. Merritt noted that everyone agreed a meeting held three days earlier was a positive first step but considerable work was still required. Among the next steps he identified was the need to consider financial models and further discuss the viability and that it “will require funding sources from public and potentially private investors.”
Other projects including a proposed residential/commercial complex by developer Marty Chernin, the construction of a second cruise ship berth and Centre 200 were also mentioned.
There was also some discussion of the library study and its possible integration into the project, Merritt indicated.