NEW WATERFORD, N.S. – The Nova Scotia government is going to spend $4.5 million to relocate new sports fields as part of the remake of medical services in New Waterford.
An artificial turf soccer field and tennis courts will be relocated to Colliery Lands Park.
The move will open space for a new health centre and school.
Monday's announcement comes more than a year after a controversial decision to close the New Waterford Consolidated Hospital and eliminate the emergency department.
Provincial Business Minister Geoff MacLellan announced the funding Monday in New Waterford.
"Want to break down as soon as possible. What we have to do is make sure the fields are built and then the land is available to build the school and the hospital, so certainly we want to have shovels in the ground next year and it will be a multiple year construction cycle for the infrastructure of this magnitude," MacLellan said.
The province says with the funding confirmed, the relocation of MacKinnon Field and Colliery Lands Park can now go to the council of Cape Breton Regional Municipality for final approval.
Construction on the new athletic facilities is expected to begin next spring.
They will continue to be owned by the municipality.
The province also plans to replace the Northside General Hospital with a new health centre, there's still no word on when construction will take place with that project.
With files from The Canadian Press.
