Sydney's NSCC campus looking to lease parking spaces from municipality

Nova Scotia Community College's new Sydney Waterfront Campus is looking to useparking at Centre 200 during school hours.

During a presentation to CBRM council earlier this week, officials from NSCC's Marconi Campus outlined the need for several hundred parking spaces in the downtown area.

The new campus is scheduled to open next September.

Upwards of 600 cars park on campus at the current location. The new design downtown includes a parking area that can fit more than 100 cars, but the Centre 200parking could meeta significant portion of the required off-site parking.

"We would like to have up to 250 parking spaces at Centre 200 on a five-year lease," said Carla Arsenault, NSCC Marconi principal. "We'd like the opportunity to work with their staff to come up with a plan that could work for both NSCC and the CBRM."

She said there is an expectation that not as many parking spaces will be required at the downtown location. She believes students and staff will usetransit and active transportation routes to attend classes.

The college would only require use of the lot at Centre 200 during school hours, Arsenault said. She said that would limit conflicts with events at the arena.

CBRM Mayor Amanda McDougall said the proposal has positives, and staff will now gather information on how to reach an agreement.

McDougall said the proposal could help create some additional funds for the municipality."So it's a win, win," she said.

The spaces available at the college and Centre 200 still means a shortfall of parking spaces. Arsenault said she believes some parking issues will be eased by carpooling and use of public transit, but other options are being considered.

NSCC is looking at other parking lots through the municipality. Arsenault said there could be options to use lots outside the downtown core, and then shuttle students to the campus.

McDougall said there is plenty of available space for the college to consider in addition to Centre 200.

"I'm thinking about Sydney River, Open Hearth Park, even Walmart, for example, for people to park, hop on a bus and come downtown," said McDougall. She cited a recent announcement about new electric buses that will be purchased for the municipality.

Staff will look into the college's proposal and present their findings to council in the coming months.