Future of DSME plant remains a mystery

It’s among Atlantic Canada’s largest industrial sites — a massive former wind tower manufacturing plant developed with $56 million in provincial funding.

But with the clock ticking on a provincial deadline to find a buyer, optimism is low that the former DSME Trenton plant will re-open as a major employer.

In an interview Wednesday, Trenton Mayor Shannon MacInnis said while the town is “crossing its fingers” for a last-minute sale, it has never been approached with a solid business plan by any prospective buyer for the plant.

MacInnis said he has been told by a “few different sources” that there is a bid in on the plant, however he doesn’t know how serious it is.

“There has been one for quite awhile, from what I’m told,” he said. “Whether or not that goes forward or not, maybe that’s the reason why they (the province) keep extending the deadline, hoping the bid ends up going through.”

Last week, Business Minister Geoff MacLellan said the province’s deadline for a decision on the Trenton plant had been pushed back for a second time to around the end of June.

But MacLellan was coy about whether there are any serious business bids for the plant — a 430,000-square-foot facility that sits on 116 acres of land in the heart of Trenton and in another incarnation was the TrentonWorks rail car plant.

He said while the receiver has said nothing formal has come forward, that simply means there is no potential agreement or suggestion of a first payment by an interested buyer.