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Monday, June 4, 2007 Cape Breton Post

Sydport well placed to gain advantage from container terminal

Section: Business

By Wes Stewart,
Direct access to road and rail infrastructure, a modern fabrication yard and plenty of backup land put the 450-acre Sydport Marine Industrial Park in a good position for a container terminal, says the park's chief executive.

"Frankly, we still very much like Sydney's odds," said CEO Jim Wooder, following the announcement this week of a $300-million container terminal for Melford on the western side of the Strait of Canso.

"We have an existing rail line servicing our site, infrastructure that is paid for and competent to be able to do what we want it to do."

BCA Investment Co-operative, Membertou First Nation, New Dawn Development, Sydney Airport Authority and Grow Cape Breton are shareholders, as well as such business leaders as Jim Kehoe, Marty Chernin, Brian Shebib and Hugh Tweedie.

Sydney businessman Chernin said the Melford announcement has not deterred the group from its path to build a terminal on Sydney harbour.

"It doesn't change anything for us; we've known for some time there are promoters for the Strait of Canso. I guess our focus is not the Strait or Halifax, but Virginia (terminal plan), and making sure we are able to create something in Sydney that is internationally competitive and economic."

Wooder noted he was glad to the hear the Melford proponents seem to have accepted that the project's economics need to include the supporting infrastructure of road and rail.

He feels road, rail and land services are second to none at Sydport.

"We believe on a dollar-per-TEU (container unit) basis you will not find a better place to do business than at Sydport if we are going to succeed and grow capacity in Nova Scotia and capture the biggest piece of this opportunity, whatever it is."

Wooder added that Sydney Ports Corp. has a master port plan and a group of companies working together to try to put Sydney back on the Maritime map.

"Our project is a very strong contender and we are going to keep working it."

Site chosen for new heritage museum

Section: Northside/Victoria

By Julie Collins,
The new heritage museum will be located adjacent to its present location, the Wilfred Oram Memorial Library.

North Sydney Historical Society president Jim Walsh is confident construction of the new building will begin within the next few months.

"Now that we have approval of the purchase of land from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, we're ready to move forward with the assistance of the three levels of government," Walsh said. "Our architect, Ken MacNeil, is working on plans for the two-storey building."

The building will also be home for the North Sydney Senior Citizens and Pensioners and the Northside Artist Association's art gallery. There will also be an information centre on the corner of the building.

"In the front of the building, we are going to have an area to display North Sydney's 1919 fire truck."

The historical society was formed in 1980. The museum, which opened in 1995, is located in the lower level of the library building across from Archibald Wharf.

"Our present location doesn't allow for any expansion," Walsh said. "We don't really have enough space to display our artifacts to their best advantage."

The present location will be maintained as a workshop and also used for storage.

"The fact that other organizations are coming in with us is going to be good. Between the three, there will be about 175 people involved with the building," he said. "The seniors and pensioners are so active, this bodes well for this new development."

The North Sydney Heritage Museum will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the month of June. The museum will be staffed by Cynthia Gallop, a student from Memorial University in Newfoundland, who is on a provincial summer grant. A federal grant will allow for a second student to be added for the months of July and August.

The museum features various theme rooms, such as the communications room, the Rice gallery, Dutch Heritage area, library and fire department display. There are also areas dedicated to the war years and the focus on the North Sydney community.

Walsh said North Sydney and surrounding communities have a deep history, adding part of the mandate of the historical society is to keep that history alive through its museum.