When storied entrepreneur Ralston MacDonnell took over the former reform school in Shelburne in a questionable deal with controversial SWSDA CEO Frank Anderson, he "re-branded" the site Bowood and made lofty promises to anyone who would listen that he would revitalize the facility into a going concern which would benefit the entire region. After several failed attempts at various enterprises, the site has become the seedy and neglected home to a bottle depot which, on a good week, would be open three days and would have the change needed to pay the ten cents on a bottle recovery fee.
According to citizens and the Resource Recovery Fund Board, the facility has been shuttered since Saturday, a clear violation of its contract with the RRFB, which requires it to be open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. "They have been put on notice to remain open," RRFB operations manager Jerome Harris told SCT. There have been several complaints in the past about the facility not being open when required or not having the funds for bottle redemption. Harris said someone had called him Saturday saying the power was out and he thought they meant that the power was down to the area. "I'll be checking into this situatiobn right away," Harris said.
Under MacDonnell's ownership, the property had deteriorated greatly and is now on the selling block for $1.4 million. The property has an $800,000 mortgage, secured in part by MacDonnell's marital home, which was listed some months ago as under foreclosure. MacDonnell has been the subject of several lawsuits in the past 18 months, including a suit from a bank claiming tens of thousands of dollars un unpaid credit card bills.
An agent for a prospective buyer recently toured the property and said the facility was "virtually worthless".
