November - by Darrell Cole - Amherst Daily News

Former HVRH property sold

AMHERST - A Dartmouth-based company has purchased the former Highland View Regional Hospital property on East Pleasant Street.

Terms of the deal were not released while a second three-acre site across the street remains on the market.

When the two properties were originally put on the market earlier this year, foundation officials were hoping to get around $240,000 for both parcels of land, or $160,000 for the former hospital site and $80,000 for the other piece of land.

While he could not say how much the foundation received for the hospital site, foundation vice-chair Morris Haugg said it fared quite well.
"We didn't quite get what we hoped, but it was close," said Haugg, who did the legal work on the project.

The land on which the hospital sat until moving to new quarters two years ago was donated by the Dickey family to the town early in the 20th century to be used as a hospital. In the 1960s a portion of Dickey Park was used to expand the hospital and at that time the Dickey family gave permission for the transfer.

The town continued to own the land through the 1960's and 1970's forming a partnership with the Municipality of Cumberland and the province. Haugg said that when the new hospital in Upper Nappan was being built, the town and the county both felt the best way to deal with the ownership of the land would be to turn it over to a neutral party.

"The hospital foundation agreed to take over the land on the condition that it proceed with the sale of the land in consultation with the health authority," Haugg said, adding that consent was received from a member of the Dickey family to sell the land since the proceeds from the sale would be used for the hospital purposes.

Some of the land, a sliver facing Dickey Park that includes the former hospital parking lot, has been retained by the town and will be re-included in the park property.

Haugg said that while there have been some claims the land was not put up for public tender, the foundation did call for tenders in March and advertised the land's availability over a three-four-week period.

"Interested parties had an opportunity to submit bids while I sent out tender packages on my own to people I thought would be interested," Haugg said. "The process did not result in finding an appropriate buyer at an appropriate price."

Haugg said negotiations were commenced with the highest bidder, who made a new offer for the property in June with the deal being closed in September.

"The money is now in the hands of the hospital foundation and is administered as a special HVRH Fund to be used to the foundation in consultation with the CUmberland Health Authority," Haugg said.

It is not known what the property's new owners intend to do with the land and attempts Friday to reach Green Highlands Development Ltd. were unsuccessful.