Gravenhurst and the province are at a stalemate over the Muskoka Regional Centre.
Gravenhurst officials have been negotiating on behalf of Maple Leaf Education Systems and Knightstone Management. The two companies partnered with a plan to build a campus for a private Chinese-Canadian Curriculum High School. Town CAO Glen Davies says Infrastructure Ontario is taking issue with what else is planned for the property.
That profit was expected to come from a five acre parcel of land that would be developed into condos and sold off. Davies says this was all explained to Infrastructure Ontario when negotiations started, but the province just hasn’t been willing to work around it.
In an email to the MyMuskokaNow Newsroom Infrastructure Minister Bob Chiarelli explained this decision by saying he’s not willing to shortchange the province and sell this property below market value to financially benefit a private corporation.
However, Davies says it’s a bigger hit to the province if Gravenhurst loses Maple Leaf Education Systems as a development partner. He says the construction and operation of this high school would add $150 million to the provincial GDP and bring hundreds of year-round jobs to Gravenhurst.
Davies says, because officials with Infrastructure Ontario don’t seem willing to budge, the town is going to take other measures to get this deal done. Mayor Paisley Donaldson will be writing a letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne asking her to get involved and find another solution to this issue.
Davies says time is running out because Infrastructure Ontario has made it clear, they want to sell the property by next spring. He says the clock is also ticking with MLES.
If negotiations with Gravenhurst shut down completely, the province will move the property onto the open market. Davies says this could be an issue because Infrastructure Ontario officials have said this property would be better suited for homes or cottages instead of a commercial property. He says this wouldn’t have much economic benefit and wouldn’t create any jobs in the community.
The door isn’t closed yet as Minister Chiarelli says he’s hopeful the province, the town and the partnered corporations can still come to an agreement. Davies says anyone in Muskoka can get involved too by continuing to show their support to get this property redeveloped.
Davies says he’s hopeful they’ll have a more positive update to give on this negotiation process soon. Infrastructure Ontario has been looking to sell off the Muskoka Regional Centre land after the property was declared surplus a few years ago. The hospital was closed in the early 90s and has been abandoned since.