The Region of Queens won’t give the South Shore Flying Club a break this year on its lease fee at the South Shore Regional Airport in Greenfield. (South Shore Flying Club)

The South Shore Flying Club’s request for a break on its rent at the South Shore Regional Airport had a rough landing at regional council on Tuesday evening.

Region of Queens councillors voted down a motion from District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins to forgive the flying club its $4,000 lease fee for 2025/26.

Jenkins was the only councillor who supported the motion.

“The club is more than just a club. They’re stewards of the airport,” he told councillors. “Years in the past, this region used to pay somebody thousands of dollars a year to sit at the airport just in case there was a plane come in.”

The municipality owns the small airport in Greenfield, but two years ago, it planned to sell it. 

Instead, the region signed 20-year leases in 2023 with the flying club and the Nova Scotia Drag Racers Association. The racing group pays $9,000 a year to lease the property for its events.

Under the flying club’s lease, it has access to the large hangar, but it also agreed to maintain the property for the region.

The club says now that it can no longer afford the annual fee. President Peter Gow wrote the newly elected council last October looking for the rent waiver.

He could not be reached Wednesday for an interview.

Jenkins said the club’s 34 members spend a lot of their own money maintaining the airport, terminal building, hangars and grounds. Three of the club’s members are also on call to respond to any problems at the airport, or to refuel a plane that’s landed.

“So we still have a viable airport. … But it’s also an asset that this region should be looking at seriously. And it’s also an asset that we pay very little to maintain. Everything else there is done by the club at their expense.”

According to the club’s financial statements, it recorded a loss in 2024 of $2,639.48. As of Dec. 31, it had a bank balance of $15,562.64.

Other councillors pointed to the club’s bank balance and its $25 annual membership fee, and said they could do more to raise revenue.

The club also spent $2,245 on clothing last year, as well as $1,241 on a new highway sign. Councillors said the club likely won’t have those expenses this year.

District 2 Coun. Maddie Charlton said she appreciates what the club does for the airport, but they also have a whole year to fundraise to help cover their costs.

And with budget talks coming up, she said she doesn’t want to commit to the rent waiver, especially with other groups in the region like the Queens County Food Bank asking for help.

“We are going into this budget process right now completely blind. We don’t know what our bottom line is. … I think it’s probably fair to say there will be some surprises there. We know we have huge infrastructure challenges. When I think about our strategic priorities, food insecurity is one of them, I think that would be an easy one (to assist) the food bank with the rent, but I don’t necessarily feel the same way with this ask at this time.”

After the meeting, Mayor Scott Christian said the club may be able to offset some of its operating costs through its application to the region’s Community Investment Fund.

The region usually announces the recipients of those grants later in the spring.

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Lauren Murphy is the director of recruitment and volunteer services with Nova Scotia Health. (Nova Scotia Health photo)

Nova Scotia Health is looking for more Nova Scotians to fill hundreds of jobs around the province.

The department is holding its second annual provincial career fair on Thursday (March 27) from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 11 locations around Nova Scotia.

The closest one for Queens County residents will be in Bridgewater at the Michelin Social Club, 221 Logan Rd.

Lauren Murphy, the director of recruitment and volunteer services with Nova Scotia Health, says last year’s event attracted about 3,000 people and led to more than 220 people being hired.

“It’s really an opportunity to showcase our roles and jobs and talk to Nova Scotians about our opportunities we have at Nova Scotia Health,” she says.

“Because we’re hosting it from coast to coast in the province it’s also an opportunity for people in their own communities to find a job there so they don’t have to leave.”

Murphy says job seekers will be able to speak to hiring managers from all parts of Nova Scotia Health. 

“That’s also the beauty of showcasing the amount of positions that we have. We had admin staff hired … but we also had diagnostic imaging technologists, we had folks who are going to be supporting our pharmacies, we had (emergency) nurses and specialty nurses. It really was amazing to see the amount of people who showed up and were able to connect with a hiring manager and find a job.

“If you think about what it takes to run a hospital, obviously doctors are critical but there are so many more moving parts and pieces to it. We’re a 30,000-people employer. We’re Atlantic Canada’s largest and we really do cover everything you can think of.”

Murphy says being able to talk to somebody in person can help demystify the application process.

“Walking in there and being able to talk to people about such a wide variety is so much different than scrolling online and trying to doing your own research. … To be able to talk to someone who is living and breathing that job day in and day out … I really think that’s what bridges that gap between virtual and in-person.”

Job applicants will also be able to upload their resume using a QR code at the job fair. Murphy said Nova Scotia Health officials will follow up with applicants the week after the event who applied using the QR code to give them an update on their application.

She said she hopes to beat last year’s numbers, both for turnout and for hires. 

“Any person that we can hire is a win. There are such amazing opportunites for internal advancement. So even if you take one job tomorrow, there’s a million different pathways you can take so you can have a fulsome career at Nova Scotia Health, which I think in a lot of companies these days, that’s pretty rare.”

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More doctors and other health professionals from the U.S. want to move to Nova Scotia, according to Nova Scotia Health. (Province of Nova Scotia)

The unstable political situation in the United States may be good news for the Nova Scotia health care system.

More doctors and other health professionals working in the U.S. are looking to move north. One of the places they’re calling is Nova Scotia. And some of them also want to move to Queens County.

Lauren Murphy, director of recruitment and volunteer services with Nova Scotia Health, says they’ve seen an increase in applications from people from the U.S.

“Honestly, we’re hearing some pretty amazing stories,” she told QCCR this week.

“We’re hearing people who maybe have family members who are trans who don’t feel safe anymore. We’re hearing about people who are Canadians but have been living in the U.S. for years and working in their health care system and not feeling safe anymore and wanting to come back to Canada. We’re hearing from people who are internationally educated but living in the U.S. and again not feeling safe. It’s a scary time in the States and I do think people are seeing Canada as that safe space.”

Murphy said that the health care professionals reaching out to Nova Scotia Health recruiters are extremely qualified and experienced. They include doctors, nurses and other professionals.

“And the beauty is that the hospital setting in the U.S. is very very similar to what we have in Canada in terms of the level of care. And so being able to hire someone from the U.S., they can pretty much hit the ground running. As horrible as it is, maybe there is some silver lining that people can find a new home here in Nova Scotia and build roots and bring family or create families, and that’s great for our economy and great for us as a province.”

Murphy did not say how many doctors or other health professionals are interested in making the move from the U.S. to Nova Scotia.

According to data obtained in January 2024 by the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, more than 1,000 health-care positions were still waiting to be filled in Nova Scotia. That includes professionals other than doctors and nurses.

And in March, about 96,000 Nova Scotians were still without a primary care provider. That was down from February’s number of just over 104,000. About nine per cent of the population is still looking for a family doctor or nurse practitioner.

Murphy acknowledged that there’s a global shortage of health-care professionals. Jurisdictions like Nova Scotia have been looking in other countries to fill those spots.

The process can take some time, especially as candidates navigate immigration and licensing requirements. Nova Scotia Health has its own immigration team to help make it easier for clinicians or other professionals to move here.

Nova Scotia recently opened a new centre to help speed up the licensing process for internationally trained physicians. It takes about 12 weeks to complete and doctors agree to practise in the province for at least three years.

Murphy says American-based doctors also ask her recruitment team about the differences in culture and taxation.

“It’s a huge step to move to a different country,” she said. “A lot of the conversations start off very exploratory. If you’re thinking about the U.S., you’re also potentially talking to a candidate who is coming from a state that doesn’t pay tax.

“But … we really are seeing people who are like, ‘No, we have to do this, we’re taking the plunge.’ And we’re really seeing those numbers now.”

Some of those doctors and other professionals are interested in moving to Queens County. 

Dr. Al Doucet is the chair of the Queens General Hospital Foundation, which works with Nova Scotia Health to bring doctors to the area.

He was out of the country and unavailable for an interview Friday. But he said in a text message that the foundation is getting inquiries from physicians and physician assistants about moving here.

Nova Scotia Health recently named Liverpool-based Dr. Alison Freeman the MD recruitment and retention lead for the South Shore.

To help with those recruitment efforts, Nova Scotia Health is holding a provincial career fair on March 27 at 11 locations around the province. Officials will be at the Michelin Social Club in Bridgewater from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Murphy says the job fair targets Nova Scotians who are interested in a first-time position with Nova Scotia Health or transferring to a different part of the province. More than 220 people were hired through last year’s job fair.

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Students and staff at Liverpool Regional High School were under a hold and secure order for a short time on Wednesday morning. (Rick Conrad)

An incident at Liverpool Regional High School on Wednesday forced officials to secure the school and students.

Parents got an email at 10:50 a.m. telling them the school was in a “precautionary hold and secure”.

“Everyone is safe and this measure has been taken out of an abundance of caution, due to a potential safety concern in the community,” the email said.

“During the hold and secure classes will continue as normal, access to the building will be limited, and students will remain inside the school for breaks.”

The email told parents that the hold and secure would remain in place until “police confirm normal activities can resume”.

The hold and secure order was lifted around lunchtime, according to a spokeswoman with the South Shore Regional Centre for Education, who also provided QCCR with a copy of the email.

She told QCCR to contact the RCMP for further details. 

RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Carlie McCann said police are still investigating and would likely provide an update in the next few days.

“I can’t provide any further information at this time,” she said Thursday.

Students heard on Wednesday that another student brought a pellet pistol to school.

“I think some guy flashed a pellet gun at someone,” Logan Sarty, a Grade 12 student at LRHS, said outside the school on Thursday. “That’s the main thing I’ve been hearing around.”

Sarty said everybody appeared OK afterward, but there was speculation in the halls about the alleged incident.

“A lot of people thought that it shouldn’t be hold and secure because there was a lot of talk of it being a rumour.” 

Another, unrelated incident occurred at South Queens Middle School on Wednesday. A school board spokeswoman said that was “more common”, as staff dealt with a disruptive student.

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Susie and Joan Stephenson of Port Joli visit the Bookmobile recently at its stop in Port Mouton. (Rick Conrad)

It’s the last one in Nova Scotia. And it’s still motoring along the South Shore.

Each week, the Bookmobile brings books, DVDs and other materials to about 15 communities in Lunenburg and Queens counties, from Chester to Caledonia.

A mobile library has been operating on the South Shore since the 1970s.

Other library systems around Nova Scotia have stopped the service. The Cape Breton Regional Library had the only other one and it retired its Bookmobile in November 2024.

So now, the South Shore has the only remaining Bookmobile in the province. And it shows no signs of slowing down.

Ashley Nunn-Smith is the CEO and chief librarian of South Shore Public Libraries.

“Our Bookmobile has been on the road for 50 years. But it’s much beloved, it’s very much a fabric of the community. For example, a few weeks ago, we had someone bring the books out to Caledonia in their van because the Bookmobile was having some mechanical issues and not only did people come out to pick up their items, but they had almost like a tailgate party. They just hung around the back of the van and chatted with their neighbours. There was nothing keeping them there other than that sense of community.

“It’s not just about the books, although that’s wonderful to drive books out to people. It’s really about a sense of community.”

Joan Stephenson of Port Joli was at a recent Bookmobile stop at Coastal Queens Place in Port Mouton. Stephenson and her daughter Susie are some of the regular patrons the Bookmobile serves every three weeks at this location. It visits certain communities on a weekly basis, while others are on a tri-weekly schedule.

“We remember when we had to fight to get a Bookmobile because the county didn’t want it,” Stephenson says. “And instead they put streetlights on our road and fought the Bookmobile, and we said it’s a different kind of enlightenment.”

In 2021, the library put a new custom-built Bookmobile on the road at a cost of about $500,000, with an accessibility lift, Wi-fi and seven electrical outlets where people can charge their devices.

Last year, the mobile service had an average of 1,100 monthly visitors who checked out 3,000 items, accounting for about 15 per cent of the library’s overall visits and circulation. Fuel and maintenance take up about two per cent of the library’s total $1.9-million operating budget.

Nunn-Smith says that because the South Shore has fewer physical library locations than other library systems around Nova Scotia, having the Bookmobile is essential.

“I think that by having the library on wheels we can bring it to more spaces than we would be able to reach with brick and mortar locations. We’re able to reach more communities that we wouldn’t be able to otherwise. We reach Port Mouton and Mill Village. Those places, it wouldn’t be feasible to operate a library branch, and so we’re able to bring the library to them.”

Susie Stephenson says she remembers the anticipation as a kid waiting for the Bookmobile to visit, a feeling she still has years later.

“When we lived in Broad River, we all went and we’d come home with clothes baskets full of books. The eight of us would just sit around and read. And you’d do it until you had to eat.

“It makes it accessible and it keeps me in reading material. And it keeps me interested and not depressed. I can sit and read a book and look at it. … I’ll take two or three bags lots of times.”

Her mother Joan says it’s something she looks forward to every three weeks.

“I can’t be away too long. My husband’s disabled. So it’s fun to come here. And the wonderful thing is the people who drive and work on the Bookmobile over all these years we’ve had it have always become our friends. They know what you’re looking for and we laugh. They want to know how your trip was or how your surgery was. They become friends.

“We love it. We love the Bookmobile. I’m an old lady and hopefully it will outlive me.”

The Bookmobile visits Caledonia every Saturday from 10 a.m to noon in the NSLC parking lot. It will be back in Mill Village at the fire hall on April 4 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. and in Port Mouton at Coastal Queens Place on April 4 from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

You can find the schedule for the Bookmobile on the South Shore Public Libraries website.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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The South Shore Flying Club maintains the South Shore Regional Airport in Greenfield as part of a lease agreement with the Region of Queens. (South Shore Flying Club Facbook page)

The South Shore Flying Club is looking for a break on its rent at the South Shore Regional Airport.

Peter Gow, president of the non-profit, says his group’s 35 to 40 members maintain the runway, hangars and grounds at the small airport in Greenfield.

“Between the insurance and the annual fee that we pay to the region, it kind of makes it pretty tight to keep operating,” he said in an interview Monday. “We’re just kind of run pretty thin.”

The flying club has asked the Region of Queens, which owns the airport, to waive the annual $4,000 rental fee.

Last October, Gow wrote to the newly elected council to ask for a break on the rent. District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins brought up the issue at last week’s council meeting. He asked councillors to support his motion for the rent waiver.

“They also provide a substantial service because they do keep an eye on the aiport, they clean it, they maintain it so that it can be used,” Jenkins told council last Tuesday.

“The problem is their limited revenue stream. Unlike other users of the airport, they don’t have 500 or 1,000 people coming to watch an event that pay money. It’s a small club with limited revenues.”

Two years ago, the region was on the verge of selling the airport. But after public backlash, municipal councillors decided to hold onto it. 

In spring 2023, the flying club and the Nova Scotia Drag Racers Association agreed to 20-year leases with the region.

Under the flying club’s lease, it has access to the large hangar, but it also agreed to maintain the property for the region. The drag racers have use of the small hangar.

“It was either we more or less agree to that or we don’t have an airport,” Gow says. “So we begrudgingly agreed to the lease with that stipulation that we would run it.”

Gow says the club has a few fundraising events each year, but it can’t sustain itself if it has to pay the rent on top of its annual $6,500 insurance bill.

“We try to do what we can here and there but everything is so expensive as everybody knows. It’s just kind of a bit of struggle. It just seems a bit odd that we pay a fee to operate the region’s facility.”

Gow said the small airport could help attract new residents to Queens County.

“We feel it’s very important. You take what’s going on around the world now, south of the border. Some of our American neighbours may consider moving to the area and that might be one of the things they look for — is there a viable airport there for someone who might have a small plane. It could make the difference between somebody moving to the South Shore and not.”

Last week, councillors said they were supportive of Jenkins’s motion, but voted to defer it to their next meeting on March 25 so they could get a look at the club’s financial statements.

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Jillian Young of Liverpool celebrates after winning the gold in her 200-metre snowshoe race at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Italy. (Special Olympics Canada)

Queens County athletes are once again at the top of the world podium.

Jillian Young and Rebecca Delaney of Liverpool captured gold this week at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Sestriere.

Young was the first to win gold on Thursday in the snowshoe 200-metre F15 final. And Delaney won gold on Friday as part of the 4 x 100-metre relay snowshoe team.

Susan Inglis, who is also Delaney’s mother, is one of the Team Canada snowshoe coaches in Italy for the games.

“It’s really amazing like the talent that is here and to see them compete on the world stage and do that well is just amazing.”

Young and Delaney are part of the 90-athlete-strong Team Canada at the games in Turin and Sestriere. And they contributed to Canada’s 76-medal haul.

Bridgewater’s Nick Skoreyko and Chloe Stoddart are the other athletes from Special Olympics Lunenburg/Queens competing in Italy. Skoreyko finished fifth in both of his snowshoe races. And Stoddart claimed bronze in 500-metre cross-country skiing.

Delaney also placed fourth and fifth in two other races, while Young finished sixth in her other race.

Delaney’s gold-medal-winning relay team has the fastest time in the world and Skoreyko was also in the fastest heat among male athletes.

“Pretty big deal to go and represent your country,” Inglis said.

“The medals are the icing on the cake, but the cake is still pretty good, pretty impressive. And they are here in Italy in these beautiful mountains with people from all over the world and they’re showcasing their talents here and they have done all so well that it’s almost hard to believe that they can be in the Top 10 in the world.

“This little town of Liverpool can put out some pretty cool, amazing athletes.”

Inglis said Delaney’s relay was run in the middle of a blizzard on the mountain.

“I had no idea what was happening on those relays until they got around to the 100-metre mark becuase you couldn’t see.”

Inglis said every athlete achieved a personal best in their sport.

“If you’re beating your personal best times, which they’ve all done, that’s amazing in itself too.

“For Rebecca and Nick, they’ve been training for a good nine months. And the minimum that they’ve had to train was three times a week, so they’re improved their performance by all that training.”

Another important aspect of the games is meeting other competitors from Canada and around the world. Inglis said the experience will only help set up the Lunenburg and Queens athletes for even more success.

“I think that they now see waht opprotunities are out there for them. And if they work really hard, train really hard that they can continue to go to national games and maybe get to go to another world games.”

As for herself, Inglis says she’s learned a lot from other coaches, lessons she’ll put into practice when she returns to Nova Scotia.

“It gives me that knowledge to bing back and share in nova scotia, not just within luen queens but with some of the other coaches in nova scotia that do snowshoeing as well.

“It’s fantastic. I’ve never met a Special Olympic athlete I haven’t fallen in love with. And this has just opened up a  new world to me because in Lunenburg Queens we have a limited group of athletes and I’ve been working with them for quite a few years but now I know athletes from all over the country. It’s been wonderful.”

Saturday is the last day of competition at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Turin. And then it’s the closing ceremonies Saturday night.

After that, Inglis says she hopes to take a few weeks off before resuming training for the Nova Scotia Special Olympics provincial summer games in July.

“It just was an overall amazing experience. I’m exhausted and looking forward to getting back home to my own bed and animals and things, but it’s been overall an amazing experience.”

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The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed Friday. (Communications Nova Scotia)

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool is closed Friday.

Nova Scotia Health issued a notice Thursday night that the ER would be closed temporarily until Mon., March 17 at 8 a.m. It gave no reason for the closure.

On Feb. 27, the department announced new “expanded and consistent” hours for the Liverpool ER. It would be open 24 hours a day from Mondays at 8 a.m. until Fridays at 1:30 p.m. and closed on weekends.

Leslie Oliver, the executive director of community and rural health in the western zone for Nova Scotia Health, told QCCR at the time that the new hours would provide patients with reliability.

“We don’t have any plans of going back to an inconsistent coverage schedule.”

Virtual urgent care is still available at the hospital from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Nova Scotia Health is holding a drop-in clinic in Caledonia on March 20. (Province of Nova Scotia)

Nova Scotia Health is holding a mobile primary care clinic in Caledonia next Thursday (March 20) from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The drop-in clinic will be held at the North Queens Community Health Centre. 

Only certain health issues can be seen at the drop-in clinic. Nova Scotia Health says it can address only non-urgent conditions such as prescription refills or renewals, minor respiratory or gastrointestinal problems, muscle pain, rashes or urinary tract infections.

People are being asked to have their health cards and a list of their medications with them. 

Medical staff will screen patients to make sure they can treat the concern at the clinic.

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool is also now open 24 hours a day from Mondays at 8 a.m. to Fridays at 1:30 p.m.

Nova Scotia Health is also organizing drop-in clinics in Bridgewater at the Medical Arts Building on Glen Allen Drive. Those are set for Sun., March 16 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wed., March 26 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Sun., March 30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

An undated aerial photo of the former Bowater Mersey plant in Brooklyn. (Queens County Historical Society Photo Collection, housed at the Queens County Museum)

UPDATED March 11, 6:30 p.m. 

Northern Pulp says it’s struggling to make a business case for a new mill in Liverpool.

As part of a settlement agreement reached with the Nova Scotia government in May 2024, Northern Pulp launched a nine-month feasibility study into a new bioproducts mill in Queens County.

The province has agreed to give the company a five-week extension as it tries to figure out whether a new kraft pulp mill is viable in the area.

In separate statements released Monday night, both the province and Northern Pulp parent company Paper Excellence said the company hasn’t yet been able to make a business case for a successful mill.

Nova Scotia’s Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton told QCCR on Tuesday that the province has worked with Paper Excellence for the past nine months on the study.

He said the province needs a processor for the forestry sector’s pulp wood. 

“We know we need a home for the low-grade wood fibre but at the end of the day, this is going to be a business decision from their part,” Rushton said.

“We’re willing to work with them to meet the environmental standards of a new-era mill that would find a home for ecologically produced forest products. I don’t want to speculate what the next five weeks may bring, but we’re supportive of this extension.”

Paper Excellence, owned by forestry giant Domtar, estimates a new mill would cost $2.5 billion in government and private funding to design and build. And it would require a rate of return of 14 per cent, as outlined in the settlement agreement.

The company’s statement said that while the proposed new facility doesn’t meet that threshold, it plans to look for more financing in the next five weeks to get the project going.

“As of today, the proposed new facility’s (rate of return) does not meet the threshold (rate of return),” the company said in the statement.

“However, the company will use the extension period to continue working to identify and evaluate potential financing opportunities to benefit the project.”

Rushton said he’s hopeful the company can make it work.

“At the end of the day, we’ve taken all the measures we can to support their information and allow them to make an educated decision. So we’re certainly hopeful there could be a postiive outcome in this.

“There are different companies that are looking at using wood fibre for renewable biofuels, renewable aviation fuels, things that have to utilize bioproducts from ecological forestry practices. So we’re interested in having a conversation with anyone that wants to come and have a conversation about using our bioproducts from forestry activities.”

Ashley Christian, president of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce, said she wasn’t surprised by the delay.

“I think there’s so much uncertainty in the economy at the moment and certainly a bioproducts mill would be affected by any potential tariffs that could still exist by the time this mill would be operating,” she told QCCR on Tuesday. “I’m not surprised that Domtar wasn’t ready with a decision. And I anxiously await May and for them to publish that decision.”

Christian said local reaction to a new mill in Queens County remains mixed.

“I think that residents recognize the potential economic impact of a mill in our county, however on the flip side recognize the potential environmental and health concerns as well. So I echo the concerns of our residents and agree with them. … I think (the feasibility study is) just the first part of this. That’s when the real work begins as citizens and for the business community to advocate for Queens County and the health of our environment here.”

According to Northern Pulp, the feasibility study looked at a mill that would produce kraft pulp, as well as biogas and biochemicals used in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and adhesives. The study also considered green energy projects, including a plan for carbon capture and storage.

Last May, Premier Tim Houston announced a deal with Paper Excellence. That was to settle the company’s $450-million lawsuit against the province after Northern Pulp was forced to close its mill in Pictou County in 2020 because of environmental concerns.

The company has been under creditor protection since the shutdown. 

A hearing is scheduled in British Columbia Supreme Court for Friday (March 14) under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act so that the company can ask for the five-week extension to find more funding for the project.

Bowater operated a pulp and paper mill in Brooklyn from 1929 to 2012, over the years employing thousands of people in Queens County.

When it closed, it threw 320 people out of work.

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