Lottery multi-millionaire Matthew Moore is the new owner of a spectacular wilderness area at Polletts Cove in northern Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Moore, whose name appears on a deed registered with the province's land information office, was not available Tuesday to talk about his plans, but hikers and other outdoor adventurers who treasure Polletts Cove hope it will remain in a pristine state that is available to the public.
Realtor Tom Childs of Tradewinds Realty who handled the sale said he has been instructed not to discuss it until Moore himself makes a statement.
News that Polletts Cove was for sale broke in September. The property was listed at $1.65 million and was described on the Tradewinds website as 300-plus magnificent acres with a 3,000-foot beach on the ocean, cliffs, two rivers and a river valley, meadows and waterfalls.
The sale price paid by Moore was not made public.
It was sold by Charlotte MacLean and Linda MacGregor, of Dartmouth, and Willa Dean Norman, of Wahroonga, Australia, according to the deed. Moore purchased a 200-acre lot and a 100-acre lot and received another 50-acre lot that had no cost value associated with it.
Polletts Cove has been in the hands of the same family since 1873. It was originally a Crown grant to the MacLean family in 1861. It passed to the present owners, the MacGregor family, 12 years later.
Childs has said the family has been trying for more than five years to get the government to acquire and add it to the very large wilderness area Polletts Cove/Aspy Bay Fault area.
Natural Resources spokesperson Diane Leblanc has said there were negotiations on the land but the province and owners couldn't reach agreement on a price given the gap between the $1.6-million list price and appraised value of just over $500,000.
Commentator Parker Donham who raised his concerns about the sale of Polletts Cove on the CBC News at 6 political panel said the province missed an historic opportunity to buy Polletts Cove and used appraisals that were way off the mark.
"The province missed an opportunity to preserve forever what may be the most spectacular piece of land in the province, and that's a tragedy," he said Tuesday. "The appraisers who gave the province an estimate of market value that has proven to be preposterously wrong have something to answer for."
Donham suggested Moore seems to be a person of "good will" and hopefully, he will be a good steward of the property.
Moore was described as a single, 27-year-old Pleasant Bay man in news stories about his remarkable $14.9 million Lotto 6-49 win in December 2006. He was the manager of the Mid Trail Motel and Inn in Pleasant Bay at the time.
