Bridgewater Bulletin

WESTERN SHORE — With over half of Oak Island up for sale, local levels of government are keeping a close eye on the famous piece of land.

Warden Allan Webber of the Chester Municipality and Chester-St.Margarets MLA Judy Streatch have kept the lines of communication open regarding the island, rumoured to house treasure deep in its soil and rock.

“I think it would be our position that Oak Island is a resource that should not be allowed to slip through our fingers,” said Mr. Webber.

The island has come up for grabs in the recent Oak Island Tours Inc. liquidation sale. The company, owned by Dan Blankenship and David Tobias, currently owns 78 per cent of the island.

The Oak Island Tourism Society, a non-profit interest group, commissioned a feasibility study that concluded the legendary island could be a money-making endeavour. Although closed to the public for the past 10 years, the island mystery still attracts attention worldwide. The feasibility study, which suggested the island could be financially sustainable once up and operating, estimated $10 million in start-up costs to reopen the island to visitors.

“Understand there are a lot of things in that study that are pie in the sky and a lot of things that are very reasonable,” said Ms Streatch. “When you look at the study, the initial $10 million price tag of developing the island is quite scary.”

Ms Streatch plans to take the issue to the government team.

“Certainly I will be discussing it in further detail with my colleagues,” she said. “I would encourage my colleagues and the province to look into it and whether or not it’s in the best interest of Nova Scotia we can only find out by investigating further.”

Warden Webber would like to see the province buy the island.

“I would encourage the province to pursue the purchase option, but of course that’s easy for me to say, it’s their money, not ours,” he said.

There are currently no land-use bylaws for the Oak Island property. Should the land sell, the possibilities of what could be built are practically limitless. Ms Streatch said this isn’t just a problem for Western Shore.

“I think it needs to be a concern for all of us,” she said. “I think no matter where the development is taking place we need to make sure the development is done in a responsible manner, it’s reflective of the community, reflective of the neighbours and certainly development can be a good thing. At the same time, we have to be conscious that everyone’ best interests are at heart and go from there.”

Mr. Webber isn’t sure what will fall in council’s hands regarding this matter.

“How involved we’ll become, I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll just leave it at we’ll discuss it and there may be a role for council to play there.”

Ms Streatch said the liquidation announcement brought the issue back to the forefront.

“With the island coming up for sale again it gets that whole discussion started on a level that it hasn’t been on for a while,” she said. “There’s not a Nova Scotian or really people around the world who don’t know about the Oak Island treasure and the Oak Island mystery and so it would
be remiss of us as a province to not look at what’s being offered here.”

Although not promising to step in and buy the island, Ms Streatch said the provincial government must at least look at the famous island and its future.

“The bottom line is it’s a gem. There’s no question Oak Island is a beautiful island. It’s a mystery and a legend known worldwide and I think the province needs to take a long look at it and see what the bottom line is and what’s being offered.”

Oak Island is located in the Mahone Bay, off Western Shore. It serves as the home for the longest running treasure hunt in the world.