NEW HAVEN — The former Fairyland amusement park finally has a new owner but the infamous fairytale characters aren’t part of the future plans.
The provincial government has purchased the property, which includes for old campground, for the purposes of moving ahead with its realignment plans for the Trans-Canada Highway.
Fairyland eventually closed and reopened under new ownership as Encounter Creek (it had the wave pool) but the latter business eventually went bankrupt and the property has sat dormant ever since.
Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Minister Robert Vessey wasn’t available for comment Wednesday but a spokesman with the department indicated it was one of a series of property purchases government had to make in order to complete the realignment as planned.
Only a portion of the old amusement park will be needed for the new highway. No decisions have been made yet as to what will become of the rest of the old amusement park property.
The $16-million project, of which half is being funded by the federal government, has encountered some opposition recently with 91 per cent of Islanders who participated in a citizen-initiated plebiscite opposing the realignment. The vote was conducted as a traditional secret ballot.
The project is slated to start in September and be ready by March 2014. It involves realigning the highway in Churchill, New Haven and Bonshaw.
The new design is supposed to improve access to Strathgartney Provincial Park, to the lookout area next to the park and to Riverdale Road. It will add turning lanes and will expand the bridge in Bonshaw by adding a third lane to improve safety at the Green Road intersection.
It will also eliminate five sharp curves and reduce the grade of the highway through Churchill and eliminate 35 driveway accesses.
The construction will involve 5.8 kilometres of road.
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