Village of Baddeck looking for new digs after more than a century in courthouse

The Village of Baddeck in Nova Scotia is finally getting its financial house in order and now it needs to find a new home for its staff.

That's because Victoria County wants the village out of the municipality's historic courthouse, where both have offices.

At last week's Village of Baddeck annual meeting, commissioner Michele Stephens told residents that village officials were shocked to get a letter from the county asking the village to move out.

The village office has been in the building on the community's main street for more than 100 years.

"We prefer to not leave the courthouse," Stephens said. "We prefer to have the Village of Baddeck offices remain there, as they have since 1908."

County chief administrative officer Leanne MacEachen said a recent study found the courthouse, which was built in 1889, needs millions of dollars worth of repairs.

'Running out of space'

The county council does not want to make that kind of investment and is going to have to find a new location for its own offices within the next few years, she said.

"Till that happens, we still have to carry on business here and we are running out of space," MacEachen said.

The county and village have worked well together, she said, and last fall, when the village asked for a second office in the courthouse, the county was able to accommodate the request.

However, the county now needs that space for its own growing staff.

The village will have to move at some point and the county needs more space right now, MacEachen said.

"Even if we didn't get the office space that they've always had, we'd like the other office, the extra office, back."

Stephens said the village was also upset at having to pay rent after going for more than a century without having to make a financial contribution for the space.

MacEachen said the village is still not being billed for its original office space, but the county has been charging $100 a month for the second space since the village requested it in October.

Stephens said the village is reluctantly looking for alternate office space.

"It's not ideal. It's not what we want ... but we also have to respond," she said.

MacEachen said the county had hoped the village would be out by July 1, but even though there has been no official response, there has been some indication it may take until September for the village to find new digs.

"We don't have a problem with that, but I think there has to be a date on it to start the discussion," she said.

Meanwhile, Victoria County had issued a request for proposals to find a realtor willing to sell the municipality's surplus properties, including the courthouse.

MacEachen said the county did not receive any responses by the deadline and council will have to decide how to proceed at its next meeting.

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