Waterfront 'war zone' gets $5.8M to become housing, commercial space
CBC
A former mill site that's sat vacant for 20 years on the Bathurst waterfront will see $5.8 million to attract development.
That funding from the provincial and federal governments will cover the cost to connect the old Smurfit-Stone paper mill site with city water and sewer services.
Bathurst MLA René Legacy said this in turn should encourage developers to bid for the land, eventually giving it new life as housing or commercial space.
The mill, which had employed hundreds in the region, closed in 2005. Vacant ever since, it has fallen into disrepair.
Residents often compared the dilapidated site to "a war zone," Bathurst Mayor Kim Chamberlain told CBC News.
She called it "a day of triumph" for Bathurst at the funding announcement on Monday.
"We succeeded in removing this eyesore from our city," Chamberlain said. "The potential for what to become on this prime, waterfront property will be enormous for us."
Bathurst MLA René Legacy said those water and sewer upgrades will happen in the summer, but the province will put a request for proposals out this fall for interested developers to respond over the winter.
Legacy hopes developers will be able to begin construction on the site by 2027.
The province took ownership of the land in question last year at a tax sale.
The site changed hands several times after the mill closed, with owners promising to clean and redevelop it, but that never happened.
Ultimately, the site had $2.5 million in property taxes outstanding when the province took ownership. Two large silos remaining on the site also had to be demolished.
The project will now see $2.3 million from the New Brunswick's Regional Development Corporation and $3.5 million from the federal government.
Chamberlain said council is "ecstatic" to see progress.
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