Holland College making progress on Event Grounds negotiations

Holland College's proposal to buythe Charlottetown Event Grounds is gettingcloser to reality.

Discussions between the college and the province have been ongoing for months, and college president Sandy MacDonald says he's "cautiously optimistic" there could be a final agreement in place in the coming months.

"There's been a lot of meetings, but we're making, I'd use the word inching along. So we're making progress and I'm optimistic," MacDonald said.

"But we're not going to go forward if our partners are not supportive as well."

Those partners include the P.E.I. International Shellfish Festival, which is held annually at the event grounds, as well as organizers of the Jack Frost Festival, and other groups.

Plans for sports field

MacDonald says discussions with the province began in November2018. The college would like to build a multi-sport turf field on the site.

If the plan goes through, the college would own the entire propertybut run it in partnership with the province, city and other groups, allowing the Shellfish Festival and Jack Frost to continue to be held there. MacDonald says the college has been working to make sure all the groups that use the space can happily coexist.

After a meeting this week, MacDonald says it seems that will be possible. He said the next step is for an engineering firm to draw up plans over the next few weeks, to show what the site would look like.

He believes there's enough room for the festivals to take place next to the sports field.

He says some of the key questions during discussions have focused on a height variance between the field and the land around it and he understands the concerns.

"You don't want to come in and attend the shellfish festival and have a 12 foot field on top of you."

Liam Dolan is the chair of the Shellfish Festival. He says the discussions have been positive, and he's optimistic the groups will be able to reach an agreement.

"At first it was scary, but now it's working very well. I think everybody is, everyone is on the same page."

In an email statement to CBC, the Department of Economic Development and Tourismsaid the project has "great potential and many groups would benefit from it, not only Holland College."

"The provincewill continue to work with Holland College on the ownership transfer andengage in discussions with the collegeand other groups on the use of the space."

Next steps

Once the partners are able to agree on a plan, the college wouldhost a public consultation to get feedback from people who live nearby.

At this point, MacDonaldsays the college and the province have not determined a price for purchasing the propertynor does he know what it would cost to build the field.

MacDonald expects a transfer of ownership is likely a few months away, and ifall goes well, he hopes to see changes complete at the site by September 2020.

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