New dorm for Springhill community college hits roadblock
CBC
Progress on a new residence for community college students in Springhill, N.S., has been set back after public opposition forced officials to take their first choice of location off the table.
Cumberland Mayor Murray Scott said a new residence for the Nova Scotia Community College's Cumberland campus is "desperately needed," so the community was pleased when the province announced last fall it would build a new 40-bed dorm.
But when municipal council announced last week that the residence would take the place of a public park across the street from campus, community pushback was swift.
"I would say it's in the hundreds, at least, have shown their disappointment," Scott said in an interview.
"As a council, we responded to that. We've heard loud and clear what they said in the last couple of days. We just have to go back to finding a suitable location that fits for everyone and I'm committed to doing that."
Scott said council, along with NSCC and the province, will go back to the drawing board.
He said two other sites were previously identified, and they'll be looked at again. But he said neither is perfect.
One is the site of the current fire station, which is adjacent to the NSCC campus, and is due to be rebuilt on another site. But Scott said construction of a new hall has not started and the project recently hit roadblocks of its own, meaning the fire department might not be able to move out soon enough.
Scott said the hope was for the new residence to open by the fall of 2025.
"So there will be some timeline challenges, if it were to be that site."
The former Springhill arena was also considered, but Scott said it was not the college's first choice.
No one from NSCC was immediately available to comment.
Scott said he expected some people would oppose using Lion's Park for student housing, but he was surprised by the number of complaints.
In addition to the hundreds of calls, texts and emails that Scott described, there was an online petition that garnered 500 signatures.
The City of Toronto’s 2026 budget will prioritize affordability and will include a lower tax increase than the city has seen in recent years, Mayor Olivia Chow said ahead of the budget’s reveal Thursday morning.
Memorial University political scientist Kelly Blidook pulled no punches when asked what cost the Liberals the 2025 provincial election in Newfoundland and Labrador.
It’s a mystery connected to Manitoulin Island and the north shore of Lake Huron that police thought they had solved five times, but each time they were thwarted.
In a break from recent tradition, Nova Scotia Power’s most senior officials are not participating in the public hearing that will determine whether many of their customers see rates jump this year and next.
When a historic bell was stolen from a Fredericton church after Christmas, a security camera from a neighbouring property caught a photo of a pickup truck.
While kids across Quebec return to school after the holidays, nine-year-old Ellie isn’t among them.
The superintendent of a Manitoba school division where a student was attacked with a sword last year said several steps had already been taken to improve safety before the province ordered all divisions to review their safety plans.
Two people who filed formal complaints with Moose Jaw police about the Dr. Goodenowe Restorative Health Center in Moose Jaw, Sask. are asking why the police force publicly said it had found no record of any such complaints.
The Charlottetown Farmers’ Market has secured its new, temporary location – and it will be open this Saturday.
Utility officials in southern Alberta’s mid-sized cities are planning system upgrades to avoid major water line breaks like one that have forced Calgary to implement water-use restrictions for the second time in two years.
A civil liberties advocate is raising concerns after a Surrey city councillor and mayoral candidate said she wants the city’s police to have increased access to the city's traffic cameras.
Following an inquest into the death of a Niagara man killed by police, a jury has recommended better support for family members, witnesses and officers involved in fatalities.
Some homeowners and Realtors are accusing a private equity firm that owns mobile home parks in Ontario of using questionable and illegal tactics to raise lot rents beyond what many can afford, making these once affordable homes nearly impossible to sell.