The man responsible for bringing the Blue Jays to Toronto has entered a one-year agreement with the province of Prince Edward Island to lease the Mill River golf course, fun park and campground.
Don McDougall’s private company, MRRI, will operate the three provincially owned attractions in Woodstock for the next year and will receive $400,000 from government to do so. This equals the amount the province has been losing every year operating these properties.
Economic Development Minister Heath MacDonald says government has been working on this deal for quite some time and is hoping McDougall will enjoy running these facilities so much, he might consider purchasing them entirely once the year-long lease is up.
“Down the road if we can successfully sell these properties to someone like Mr. McDougall, it will bring a real entrepreneurship leader of a community back to Prince Edward Island to help grow and prosper that area,” MacDonald said.
“But at this point in time it is a lease agreement for one year, and we hope everything works out for the benefit of everyone involved.”
The P.E.I. government has been trying to sell its four provincially owned golf courses for over a decade.
That effort was increased in 2012, when the former Ghiz administration issued a request for proposals looking for private operators to manage, lease or buy Crowbush, Brudenell, Dundarave and Mill River golf courses.
The province was close to inking a deal to sell its premiere Crowbush course in 2014, but after months of negotiations both the province and the prospective buyer agreed to walk away from the deal.
In the meantime, P.E.I. taxpayers have been footing the bills for these courses, which have been operating at net a loss every year of between $800,000 and $1.4 million.
MacDonald said many governments across the region are trying to get out of the golfing business, but golf courses are big-ticket items to try to sell.
Nonetheless, work is ongoing to try to find buyers for the other three provincial courses.
In the meantime, MacDonald expects MRRI and McDougall’s operation of the Mill River properties will breathe new life into these attractions in western P.E.I.
“He is a very strategic businessman and he will come to the table with new ideas. He will come to the table likely with new money, the infrastructure could change so I think there’s lots of opportunities there that we’re looking at that could be very (beneficial) for that area of West Prince.”
MRRI will assume responsibility for all operational costs of the attractions, including employee salaries, benefits and property upkeep.
Operations at the three facilities will remain unchanged this summer. All staff will remain employees of the province with the same pay and work-term length.
The lease begins Sunday, May 1, and ends April 30, 2017.
McDougall, who grew up in Bloomfield, P.E.I., has served as president of the Labatt’s Brewing Company and brought the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team to Toronto, for which he was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
A resort owned by Rodd Hotels and Resorts attached to the Mill River properties is not part of this current deal.
Twitter.com/GuardianTeresa
The man responsible for bringing the Blue Jays to Toronto has entered a one-year agreement with the province of Prince Edward Island to lease the Mill River golf course, fun park and campground.
Don McDougall’s private company, MRRI, will operate the three provincially owned attractions in Woodstock for the next year and will receive $400,000 from government to do so. This equals the amount the province has been losing every year operating these properties.
Economic Development Minister Heath MacDonald says government has been working on this deal for quite some time and is hoping McDougall will enjoy running these facilities so much, he might consider purchasing them entirely once the year-long lease is up.
“Down the road if we can successfully sell these properties to someone like Mr. McDougall, it will bring a real entrepreneurship leader of a community back to Prince Edward Island to help grow and prosper that area,” MacDonald said.
“But at this point in time it is a lease agreement for one year, and we hope everything works out for the benefit of everyone involved.”
The P.E.I. government has been trying to sell its four provincially owned golf courses for over a decade.
That effort was increased in 2012, when the former Ghiz administration issued a request for proposals looking for private operators to manage, lease or buy Crowbush, Brudenell, Dundarave and Mill River golf courses.
The province was close to inking a deal to sell its premiere Crowbush course in 2014, but after months of negotiations both the province and the prospective buyer agreed to walk away from the deal.
In the meantime, P.E.I. taxpayers have been footing the bills for these courses, which have been operating at net a loss every year of between $800,000 and $1.4 million.
MacDonald said many governments across the region are trying to get out of the golfing business, but golf courses are big-ticket items to try to sell.
Nonetheless, work is ongoing to try to find buyers for the other three provincial courses.
In the meantime, MacDonald expects MRRI and McDougall’s operation of the Mill River properties will breathe new life into these attractions in western P.E.I.
“He is a very strategic businessman and he will come to the table with new ideas. He will come to the table likely with new money, the infrastructure could change so I think there’s lots of opportunities there that we’re looking at that could be very (beneficial) for that area of West Prince.”
MRRI will assume responsibility for all operational costs of the attractions, including employee salaries, benefits and property upkeep.
Operations at the three facilities will remain unchanged this summer. All staff will remain employees of the province with the same pay and work-term length.
The lease begins Sunday, May 1, and ends April 30, 2017.
McDougall, who grew up in Bloomfield, P.E.I., has served as president of the Labatt’s Brewing Company and brought the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team to Toronto, for which he was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
A resort owned by Rodd Hotels and Resorts attached to the Mill River properties is not part of this current deal.
Twitter.com/GuardianTeresa