Future of former Summerset Manor still uncertain

The provincial government’s plans for the former Summerset Manor property in Summerside have changed.

In late November Family and Human Services Minister Tina Mundy told the legislature that a new request for proposals (RFP) was soon going to be issued for the vacant seniors home, which is on Granville Street, specifically looking for a developer to turn it into seniors’ housing.

A previous call for RFPs, looking for any and all potential uses of the building, returned with no interested parties. However, a spokesperson for the department now says the new call for RFPs will have a broader scope than originally planned.

It will call for 20 seniors housing units to be built in Summerside, aided by federal social infrastructure funding, but they will not be limited to the former manor property.

The spokesperson said the manor property will be included in the RFPs in as much that potential developers will be encouraged to consider using it in some way, but will not be boxed into doing so.

This means it is possible the successful developer will not want to use the property, leaving it still vacant, which it has been since 2012.

Before it was announced that it might be used for seniors housing, Summerside city council called on the province to demolish the former manor because it considered it an unwanted eyesore.

The province expects to issue the new call for RFPs in the second week of February.