November 6, 2020
For Immediate Release:
CUTLINE:
Gordonstoun Entrance.jpg
The entrance to the Former Upper Clements Park is the future location of one of the Gordonstoun Nova
Scotia buildings. Annapolis County council leased 25 acres to the school’s developer. LAWRENCE
POWELL
HEADLINE:
Annapolis County approves 99-year lease agreement with Gordonstoun developer
UPPER CLEMENTS, NS – Gordonstoun Nova Scotia, the international private boarding school being built
in Upper Clements in Annapolis County, is a step closer after municipal council approved a lease
agreement with developer E. A. Farren, Limited at a special council meeting November 4.
The 99-year agreement allows the developer use of a 25-acre parcel of land owned by the county at the
former Upper Clements Parks where Gordonstoun is being built.
While public perception has been that the Municipality of the County of Annapolis or the Province
provided a $7.2-million loan guarantee to the developer, that’s not true, said municipal CAO John
Ferguson in an interview after the council meeting.
The Nova Scotia Government gave authority in the Municipal Government Act to allow municipalities in
Nova Scotia to invest in a building as long as the building is on municipally owned land. Subsequently,
the Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing approved Annapolis County to borrow
$7.2 million in connection with the Gordonstoun project.
“The project was not given a guarantee from the Province as part of the original request from E. A.
Farren, Limited. Instead municipalities across Nova Scotia were given the authority to invest in a building
that the municipality will own,” Ferguson said. “It was at this juncture that the project’s first investment
became that of the Municipality of the County of Annapolis.”
He said the building that the municipality builds will form part of the Gordonstoun Campus, but will be
on municipal land. The other buildings required for the Gordonstoun project will be on land owned by
the developer for Gordonstoun Nova Scotia, E. A. Farren, Limited.
That land, about 225 acres, will be deeded over to the developer following a second motion by council
at the November 4 meeting.
The Upper Clements Parks properties had to be surveyed to carve out the required municipally owned
land from the Gordonstoun Nova Scotia land.
The 99-year lease agreement lays out the use of the municipally owned building. E. A. Farren, Limited
has the Gordonstoun franchise and subsequently will lease the municipally owned building and land to
E. A. Farren, Limited.
The developer will have full access and authority over the leased property, Ferguson said.
In return E. A. Farren, Limited must maintain and operate the facility and infrastructure in accordance
with the operation of the Gordonstoun Nova Scotia School franchise. And the County has the right to
inspect annually and make recommendations on improvements and upkeep.
As part of the lease agreement, E. A. Farren, Limited is required to pay a fee that is equivalent to the
terms specified to the County from the Nova Scotia Municipal Finance Corporation based on the
debenture the County issues for the borrowing of the $7.2 million approved by the province.
“To further explain, E. A. Farren, Limited is required to pay a fee equivalent to the principal and interest
payments specified by the MFC to Annapolis County,” Ferguson said. “The project is not anticipated to
impact municipal taxes. The project is intended to pay for itself.”
Edward Farren has recently released an architect’s drawing of several Gordonstoun Nova Scotia
buildings, including the administration and student centre facility that will be owned by Annapolis
County. He is also involved in a global search for a founding principal who is to be in place to recruit
teachers for a late 2021 opening for staff. The first cohort of Grade 9 students will arrive the following
September.
BACKGROUNDER BULLETS
Gordonstoun Nova Scotia will be the first franchise of Gordonstoun Scotland.
The school will be constructed on the 250-acre site of the former Upper Clements Parks.
The international private school, when fully operational, will bring more than 600 students to
Annapolis County annually.
Students will be from Canada (1/3), the United States (1/3), and the rest of the world (1/3).
The school will directly create 100 new jobs and another 150 indirectly.
It is expected local businesses will prosper from Gordonstoun’s presence, new businesses will be
established, and home sales will increase.
The facilities will be of net zero energy construction.
Economic impact would include wages annually of $6.5 million; operations expenditures
(excluding food) of $5.9 million; and administrative expenditures of $594,000.
Will provide approximately $13 million annually in wages under the Gordonstoun pay scales
when in full enrollment of 600 students.
Gordonstoun Nova Scotia, announced in December 2018, is expected to open to staff in the
autumn of 2021 and the first cohort of students in 2022.
