Going, going, gone
Wiebel and Testori properties in Summerside to be auctioned off
Two properties that were once held up as symbols of success for the P.E.I. aerospace industry are now scheduled to go under the mortgage seller’s hammer. According to notices published in Thursday’s edition of the Journal Pioneer, 45 Cannon Drive in Slemon Park, which houses what’s left of Testori Americas Corporation in the province, and 175 Greenwood Drive in Summerside, the former home of Wiebel Aerospace Inc., are set to be auctioned off for non-payment of their mortgages.
Both sales are scheduled for May 5, Testori for 12 p.m. and Wiebel for 12:15 p.m. at the Summerside court house at 108 Central Street. The two sister companies once employed close to 200 people, total, only a few years ago. However, the fortunes of both took a turn for the worse after their original owner, Lindo Lapegna, sold the companies to TMC Avion in 2011. The two sides became mired in lawsuits worth millions.
In 2013 the province sold its claim to the $12.1 million in loans it had given the companies over the years to a company registered in Delaware called P.E.I. Westside Funding for $5 million. That company then demanded payment from Wiebel and Testori, forcing them into creditor protection in 2014, which they exited in mid-2015.
Wiebel laid off its remaining staff and listed its property for sale for $2 million in December of 2015. At the same time Testori issued the same layoff instructions to its Slemon Park plant, however, its largest client, Bombardier, stepped in and offered the business a contract in an attempt to save the company. The remaining 12 Testori employees were still working to fulfill that contract as of Feb. 1.