New Mall in Montague

MONTAGUE - After more than a year of snags, the new Market Mall was officially unveiled here Wednesday by developer Tim Banks, who says his multimillion-dollar development will put the largest town in eastern P.E.I. on the retail map.

It was a full house for the APM president, who told the Montague Rotary Club the former McGowan Motors car dealership will officially begin to disappear on June 1.

That's when construction crews will move in to begin phase one of a complex that includes a family restaurant, space for numerous retail outlets and a pilot project introducing high-end adult housing units.

"I don't want people to think we're competitors or predatory,'' said Banks. "What we're really going to do is put Montague on the map to become a retail destination for the rest of the region."

Banks, who unveiled his new modular home plant at Pooles Corner to politicians just last week, was expected to announce another major project for Pooles Corner. He alluded to that new venture here Wednesday, but said an announcement was still forthcoming. "It will be an exciting project and that's another story to come,'' he said.

The Guardian has learned Banks intends to build a new plant to construct heirloom and heritage furniture and the announcement has been delayed until next week. The new Market Mall will be built directly across the road from the Down East Mall, which just completed a facelift last fall.

Many business people welcome the new development, but others fear the market base is too limited here and the arrival of chain operations will threaten smaller business. The development means a new traffic light will be installed on Main Street to handle the traffic flow, an extension will be made to Harmony Lane — behind the Kings County Memorial Hospital —to act as a service road, and a massive parking lot will be built.

"We're bringing in some competitors to town to sharpen up some skills and you'll find a lot more people coming here to spend their money,'' said Banks. "It's good for everyone."

The project has been on the drawing board for more than a year with property settlements and right-of-ways delaying progress. However, Banks said the project has now jumped all the hoops to meet federal, provincial and municipal standards to proceed.

Stage one includes the construction of a family restaurant and a retail strip to accommodate a number of new stores. Banks didn't divulge the restaurant operators, although McDonald's is widely speculated, and he declined to name the retail tenants, one of which includes the House of Excellence, which will relocate from Pooles Corner.