Public input
Open house held to discuss potential design and location of new Marconi Campus in downtown Sydney
Bernie Gillis couldn’t help but notice the number of local businesses that have closed in recent years in downtown Sydney — and he was disappointed.
Gillis’s disappointment quickly changed to optimism when he found out the new Nova Scotia Community College Marconi Campus would be relocating to the downtown core.
“I could only imagine how it was going to rejuvenate downtown Sydney,” said Gillis with a smile. “Downtown Sydney needs something like Marconi Campus — we’ve needed something big like that downtown for a while.”
The Sydney native was one of 40 local residents who attended an open house at Sydney’s Civic Centre on Wednesday, hosted by Ekistics Planning and Design, a Dartmouth-based firm hired to study the school’s move to the downtown area.
The public forum was held to gather feedback on numerous concerns surrounding the project, including the design, parking issues and the location.
The open house began with a 15-minute presentation by the firm, which included photos of the downtown area as well as possible locations for the school.
During the presentation, the firm showed examples of other cities that have relocated campus or satellite locations to downtown areas, including Wilfred-Laurier University in Brantford, Ont., Red River College in Winnipeg, Man., and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Ont.
Following the presentation, questionnaires were given to those in attendance, with answers later shared among the crowd.
When asked their thoughts on the school itself, the majority of the crowd agreed that they would like to see a new state-of-the-art central site for the school with smaller buildings for different programs in close proximity.
“I think the old Cape Breton Post building, although it would be a massive reconstruction, would be wonderful work for some of our local tradespeople,” said David Young of Sydney, adding that the building could be used as a satellite location.
“If you thought about getting this off to a quick start, you may also include the former train station — this doesn’t have to be like Halifax and be all glass, steel and concrete and a multi-million-dollar budget; maybe we can start this and lower our sights a little.”
Although parking has been raised as an issue surrounding the project, it didn’t seem to be a major issue with Wednesday’s crowd. However, some raised concern about congestion in the downtown core, noting solutions would have to be found.
“There are a lot of properties here in Sydney that are not being used as far as parking goes and I think if their owners brought them up to standard, they could use those properties as parking spots,” said Gillis.
“It would generate more revenue for the people who own the properties and it would benefit the downtown.”
In November, the province committed to relocating Marconi Campus, which has a student population of 1,200, from its current location, adjacent to Cape Breton University, to the downtown Sydney.
A government tender later opened, and the $144,586 contract was awarded to Ekistics Planning and Design, which was asked to study space requirements, potential locations, campus design, student impacts and transportation needs.
The company is familiar with the downtown Sydney area. The company was responsible for a March 2014 study which outlined a conceptual vision for the Sydney waterfront.
The Cape Breton Regional Municipality council also endorsed in principal a 2017 plan from the company to revitalize downtown Sydney, calling for $10.5 million in investments, including a $7.5-million redesign on Charlotte Street from Dorchester to Townsend streets.
Possible locations for the new NSCC that were mentioned by residents at the meeting included an area near Centre 200, close to George Street. Meanwhile, some believe the perfect spot for the facility would be on the waterfront on the Esplanade near Mercer’s Service Centre.
Ekistics Planning and Design confirmed the study for Marconi Campus is only in the preliminary phase and no location or design has been selected.
Company officials say they expect the study to be completed sometime between August and October. It will then be given to the government and the Nova Scotia Community College before a location is announced.
As for Gillis, he thinks having the younger generation in the downtown core could be an advantage to local businesses.
“It wouldn’t surprise me that when this campus is built, those businesses that have closed in the downtown area may reopen,” said Gillis. “With all these students down here, they will need a place to eat, a place to do their banking and a place to buy clothing — It’s all positive to me.”