Yarmouth Town Council says they’ve heard enough about a proposed expansion project at Mariners Centre.
The General Manager of the facility Gil Dares requested a presentation on behalf of the Steering Committee of the project.
Council denied that request at a meeting last week.
Dares says he’s disappointed.
“The committee has been working on this project for three years and so we’re just seeking actually clarity on the town’s position and their intentions. We’ve had some vague responses like ‘not now’, but what does that mean. We’ve done over $100,000 worth of studies, partially which were co-funded by the Town of Yarmouth. We’ve had lots of reasons over the past three years to believe that the town supported our efforts. So this has sort of left us in, I guess, a bit of a quandary. Where do we go from here, or do we go anywhere.”
Mayor Pam Mood says council has been very clear, the priorities have not changed.
“It’s still number 3 on a list of 3 for regional priorities, nothing’s has changed there. But we have a number 1 priority in the town and we’re going to look after that but we’ll certainly revisit it in the future.”
That number one priority is a new arts and culture centre on Collins Street.
At the meeting, Councillor Cliff Hood stated that council has heard the same presentation on Mariners Centre numerous times.
Hood added that the request sounded like a political ploy from management at the facility to force a competition between two projects.
Dares says that was not the intent, and was upset to hear that his integrity was questioned.
Dares says a meeting is scheduled with the Municipality of Yarmouth and a request has also been sent to Argyle.
