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MABOU, N.S.

A former convent situated in the Mabou hills is in the process of being sold to the Gaelic College.

The St. Joseph Renewal Centre offers educational, cultural and religious programming year-round. In its early years, the 66-year-old building was home to a convent and an all-girls boarding school.

It sits on about five acres of land overlooking Mabou harbour.

The Congregation of Notre Dame, which owns the facility, listed the property for $599,000 in February.

An offer has been pending for several weeks however the plan is to officially close the centre on Oct. 31. According to its website, there is programming scheduled up to Sept. 30.

Sr. Rebecca McKenna, province leader for the Visitation Province of the Congregation of Notre Dame, said there were “many offers” but a decision was made based on finding a “good match” with a potential buyer.

“(Congregation of Notre Dame) sought a group that would use it in concert with our values and our ministry of education, community and culture. The Gaelic College is a very good match,” she said.

Despite being on the market for only 51 days, McKenna wasn’t surprised by the interest in the property. The congregation is looking for a closing date of Dec. 31.

Gaelic College CEO Rodney MacDonald wasn’t prepared to release details of the proposal on Friday, since the deal hasn’t been finalized.

“I’m not going to get into all aspects of the proposal just because we’re doing our due diligence now but it is in line with our educational, cultural values that we have as a college,” MacDonald said. “It’s also in line with the types of programming that we offer.”

However, McKenna shed some light on the likelihood that the 40,000-square-foot building would be used as a satellite campus for the college.

“It will be a residence for students — that’s what the building was built for. It just seems to us to be a very easy and gracious kind of handing on of the torch to this group.”

The Gaelic College, located in St. Anns, was founded in 1938 and strives to foster Gaelic culture and language through programs, cultural workshops and festivals.

It is organized as a non-profit and operated by a board of governors. It raises money through the Gaelic College Foundation but also receives donations from private citizens and government funding.

Its most recent federal funding came in April 2017, when the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency provided $375,000 to promote Kitchenfest over a three-year period and an additional $295,000 to assist the college with the cost of infrastructure upgrades.

MacDonald would not say how the Gaelic College plans to finance the purchase of the St. Joseph Renewal Centre.

Inverness County Warden Betty Ann MacQuarrie described her disappointment when it was announced in January the property was going to be sold.

On Friday, she was sounding upbeat and confident the sale will go through.

“The search for a buyer has ended on a good note,” she said. “It will be great for the community, there will be more people hired and maybe some of the present staff (will) stay on that have been there for years.”

The value of the three parcels of land owned by the Congregation of Notre Dame have been assessed at $539,700 for this year. As it is owned by a religious organization it is exempt from paying property tax.

It will lose that tax-exempt status as a religious organization but the municipality will not gain any revenue from the Gaelic College because universities and colleges are exempt from paying property tax in Nova Scotia.

FAST FACTS

St. Joseph Convent and Renewal Centre:

• Sisters from the Congregation of Notre Dame have been in Mabou for more than a century.

• In 1952, the current structure was completed and opened to receive 90 girls as boarders to attend the high school.

• In 1978, the boarding school closed.

• In 1979, the doors reopened and the facilities were then to be used to “promote the human and spiritual development of the people.”

Source: www.stjosephrenewalcentre.com

chris.shannon@cbpost.com

Twitter: @cbpost_chris

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