A decision on what to do with the idle Pictou Academy building has been put on hold as Pictou town council wants more information on the developer’s plans.
Last night’s special meeting of council included a public hearing over the proposed site plan for
Pictou Mayor Jim Ryan. (Town of Pictou photo)
the Academy building. Canadian Maritime Engineering, owner and operator of the local shipyard, wants to convert the building into office space plus apartments to serve as temporary housing for roughly 58 tradesmen and others working at the shipyard. It is expected the conversion work will cost at least $2 million. But concerns have been raised by neighbors about what sort of worker the “temporary” nature of the apartments would attract, and about noise and disruption by construction crews during the conversion process.
Mayor Jim Ryan says it’s tricky to balance the needs of a business with the concerns of residents.
Ryan says the town has put in a lot of money over the last five years to keep the building mothballed, but time is not on their side.
Mayor Ryan expects to get answers from CME in a couple of weeks to present at another public meeting of council.