Bowood planning open house for former Boys School

By Greg Bennett

The Coast Guard

NovaNewsNow.com

A promised open house of the new Bowood development in Shelburne will take place next week.

Halifax-based MacDonnell Group purchased the former Shelburne boys school in June and plans are being made to completely reinvent the facility.

The company will host the open house on Tuesday, Aug. 28 to show off some of those plans and to generate local interest in the development.

In June, the company formed a new subsidiary, Bowood Corporation Inc. and 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 securitytraining centre, with future long term plans to develop seniors and student housing as well as commercial businesses and parkland at the site.

During the open house, the Shelburne Bashers will play a game on the baseball field located on the property. There will also be booths from local businesses, entertainment and children’s activities.

“We want to see the whole community come out,” said Sarah Vander Meer, of the MacDonnell Group, who noted that they were also interested in seeing members of the local business community involved.

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

In the short term, the company is hoping to secure a major tenant for the office space at the site.

MacDonnell also hopes to offer an area of the site for new small businesses that need space.

The open house runs from 4 to 7 p.m.