Summerside wants Dynasty Spa property developed

The city of Summerside is taking steps to convince the owner of the Dynasty Spa property to do something with the building.

Two city officials were recently in China to make the case, where the owner lives.

Construction began in 1990 on what was supposed to be a luxury spa along the waterfront in the western end of the city but the work stopped half way through.

Since then the property, on MacKenzie Drive,has changed hands several times.

The latest owner bought the property in 2005. No further work has been done on the site to date and the windows are boarded up.

That's whythe city has been pushing for development.

"The spa property is getting to be a bit of an eyesore," Mayor Basil Stewart said.

"The land along there is beautiful with the boardwalk going along there so we've got all that in the mix with all of the development and construction and we are pushing to have that one moved ahead as well."

Two city representatives recently touredsome ofthe owner'sdevelopments in China.

The mayor says he'snow optimistic the meeting will help the Summerside project move forward.

"They don't move all that quickly, but you kind of gotta keep leaning on them," he said.

Meanwhile, Stewart noted that about 80 hectares along the waterfront near the spa are now being developed by Summerside native Doug Maclean for townhouses.