Cash from property sale to fund new John Abbott science complex

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD

andy.blatchford@transcontinental.ca

Pointe Claire’s Highway 40 service road is about to become more crowded.

John Abbott College sold a 2.3-million-square-foot property last week to Ontario box-store developer SmartCentres.

The Ste. Anne de Bellevue CEGEP unloaded the mostly-treed land between Re-no Depot and Merck Frosst for over $30

million.

John Abbott director general Keith Henderson said the deal will fund a new science and technology complex on the Ste. Anne campus.

“It will allow us to comfortably house all the students that are coming into the college because we’re refusing more and more students due to lack of space,” he said of the proposed building. “Space is a major concern here.”

John Abbott’s capacity is currently 4,500, but the school has about 6,000 students.

Henderson said the 110,000-square-foot “state-of-the-art” facility will be home to the school’s science and technology programs as well as new programs in the fields of pharmaceuticals and life sciences.

The project will cost about $29 million, and another $4 million will be used to renovate the CEGEP’s existing buildings. Henderson said the school will dip into its surplus for extra funds and is about to launch a fundraising campaign.

John Abbott is waiting for the education minister to approve the project, which aims to open its doors within three years.

Henderson said talks to buy McGill University’s Brittain Hall - adjacent to John Abbott and currently used for some of the CEGEPS’s continuing education courses - are underway.

John Abbott bought the property in 1971 when it planned to set up shop in Pointe Claire. But Quebec forced the CEGEP to establish itself in vacant buildings at McGill’s Macdonald Campus in Ste. Anne.

“At that time Abbott was not very happy. Of course in hindsight we’re all happy

that we’re here,” Henderson said. “We have

one of the most beautiful campuses in Canada.”

SmartCentres, which built the Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, Loblaws and Brick stores in Kirkland, did not return phone calls from The Chronicle.

Pointe Claire city clerk Ginette Brisebois said the city has yet to receive project plans for the property. She said half the land is currently zoned for office and commercial use (three to 15 storeys), while the other half is zoned for multi-family and residential use (three to 15 storeys).