Used bookstore may be evicted to make way for NSCC campus

Several business owners along the waterfront in Sydney, N.S., have already raised concerns about having to move when the Nova Scotia Community College relocates to the city's downtown, but now a business a block away is also facing a possible eviction.

The province is in talks to buy properties along the waterfront to relocate NSCC's Marconi campus.

Plans show it will also be buying a vacant lot on Falmouth Street between Esplanade and Charlotte Street, as well as the building housing Ed's Books and More, and several apartments.

Ed Gillis, a retired steel worker who runs the used bookstore about a block from where NSCC is expected to go, said he was surprised when he found out he might have to move.

Some people have expressed concern, but Gillis is not pressing the panic button.

Facing uncertainty

"I'm just going to take it easy and relax right now, and we'll deal with it as it comes along," he said.

Gillis and other commercial tenants potentially affected by the relocation of NSCC say the biggest problem they face is uncertainty.

They say they would just like to know if they should move right away and if there will be any help available for their forced dislocation.

The shelves bend with old and new titles in the cramped space, and boxes hold a variety of vinyl records.

The store occasionally hosts live musicians, writing contests and vinyl appreciation nights, when people come and listen to an album and discuss its relative merits.

Ed's Books is a gathering place as much for its contents and events as for the knowledgeable literary recommendations of its owner.

Gillis, who is nearly 70, said his landlord has promised to help out, if a move becomes necessary.

However, he said his landlord is still in negotiations to sell to the province and he can't get an answer on when that might happen.

"In the meantime, we're in a holding pattern," said Gillis.

"We'll deal with things as they unfold, and the future is a little bit foggy right now, but we'll just see what we can do."

Gillis said he does not want to move, but he'll think about that when the time comes.

On Aug. 2, the provincial government announced plans to move NSCC's Marconi campus downtown from its current location next to Cape Breton University, on the Sydney-Glace Bay highway.

Parker Rudderham, owner of the vacant lot on Falmouth Street and the building housing Ed's Books, said he hasn't discussed the possible move with his residential tenants or Gillis, because there's no deal, yet.

"Right now, everything is hypothetical," said Rudderham.

He also said the tenants will have plenty of time to move, if a deal is struck.

"We certainly are not tossing anybody out on the street, that's for sure," Rudderham said.

The province said more details on the college relocation will be released once land acquisition and design plans are done.

In the meantime, the government said it does not discuss property sales with tenants. Officials say that's up to the land owners.

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