Former Shelburne boys school is sold

By Greg Bennett

The Coast Guard

NovaNewsNow.com

It’s official. Shelburne’s former boys school has a new owner, name and purpose.

Describing it as a new beginning for the former youth facility, Halifax-based MacDonnell Group announced on Friday morning that the purchase of the 200-acre property was complete.

The company has formed a new subsidiary, Bowood Corporation Inc. and has renamed the property Bowood; a name chosen because the original Bowood Estate in the UK was the home of the first Earl of Shelburne.

Plans for the former boys school including developing the facilities for offices and a security training centre, with future long term plans to develop seniors and student housing as well as commercial businesses and parkland at the site.

Owner Ralston MacDonnell says the company will host an open house at the facility later this month to show off more plans for the future of the site.

“We see significant promise for the future,’ he said, noting that the company is hoping to make a positive contribution to economic development in Shelburne County.

MacDonnell cautions that the company’s plans may take time to compete. Some things are expected to happen quickly while other plans may take years to come to fruition, he said.

“It’s a process ...it takes time,” said MacDonnell.

The former boys school purchase has been one fraught with controversy, partially due to an earlier proposal from the Municipality of Shelburne to move its offices there.

“My understanding is that they’ve made a decision to stay where they are,” said MacDonnell.

“They would still be more than welcome to come, …it would be a marvelous expression of interest and we’d be happy to discuss it …until such time that we can no longer entertain it.”

In the short term, MacDonnell said the company would like to secure a major tenant for the office space at the site, noting that the municipality would still have the first opportunity to lease space at the site.

MacDonnell also hopes to offer an area of the site for new small businesses that need space … “at an attractive price.”

“We want to have a more direct role in community economic development,” he said.