A soft scaping design was created and awarded to local contractor Island Coastal. The total cost of the soft-scaping was approximately $150,000 and was shared between CADC and ACOA. Also part of the design was the relocation of the large red numbers that arrived here in Charlottetown in 2014. The Queen’s Wharf has very quickly become one of the must stop destination here in Charlottetown and has become a favorite photo opportunity for special occasion no mater what time of year it is. 

Fast forward to present day and the bells are being brought out of storage. Since 2012, a committee of local individuals has been promoting the idea of once again having the bells ring at this national historic site. The Christoph Paccard Bell Foundry has been engaged to assist with the goal of not only refurbishing the bells but also returning them to the Church tower. With modern engineering it will indeed be possible to place the bells in the tower. A large metal frame will be erected inside the tower but not actually touch the outer walls of the structure. The 18 bells have a total weight of approximately 10,000lbs and all of that weight will be transferred downward through the metal frame to the foundation walls of the tower. This extra weight at the base of the tower will actually improve the stability of the steeple.

The bells have been sent to the bell foundry in South Carolina where they are all going to be turned, tuned and polished. When they return they will look brand new. Along with the bells, the company is providing the metal mounting frame, new striking gear and all the electronic equipment needed to play and ring the bells.  A new solid wood keyboard console with bench will be provided. The digital control system will be built into the console for ease of live play and of custom recording music if desired. Additionally, a wireless remote control is a part of the installation to allow operation of the bells from remote locations around the Historic District for special occasion’s especially celebratory days such as Canada Day.

The total  cost of this project is approximately $450,000 and is being paid for through community fundraising efforts.

The redesigned area features large planting beds with trees, curbing, stamped asphalt, benches and Island sandstone. Visitors to Charlottetown are lured outside to enjoy the fresh air, stunning views of the waterfront, and our great summer weather. This area is a great addition to Charlottetown’s beautiful waterfront area.

Victoria Row, Richmond Street, located in our project area, has become one of the most popular locations in Charlottetown and is home to many restaurants and shops. The growth of this area is significant and there are many stakeholder and competing priorities to consider as it changes over time. Given the success of this street, there is a group of business owners who are pushing for a similar arrangement on Sydney Street between Queen and Great George. Sydney Street has its own list of challenges to becoming pedestrian only during the summer months and all the various issue must be considered and factored in.
This project will be complete in December of 2020 and will be the foundation for projects in the area in the coming years.

Public Design Workshop
Oct 13, 2020 @ 6:30pm
PEI Brewing Company
96 Kensington Rd.

Property Owners Design Workshop
Oct 13, 2020 @3:00pm
PEI Brewing Company
96 Kensington Rd.

This project was completed by a single contractor who handled all elements of the new boardwalk. As for the specific stages of the project, the boardwalk was done in a train like fashion. On the front end, crews lifted the existing boardwalk, then the base was prepared, new boardwalk constructed and the finished product comes out the back end. This continued for the whole length of the new boardwalk.

As for the materials used, the new boardwalk was upgraded to marine grade, Eastern hemlock, rough sawn timbers. The size of the boards was substantially increased along with the base below. The gravel below the boardwalk was increased from 4″ to 10″and weeping tile was added to allow any moisture to escape if it finds its way in. The sleepers are now 4″x 8″ in size and there are 6 of them across the width of the boardwalk. The decking is now 3″x 6″ in size and the width went from 8′ to 10′. The City of Charlottetown can now feel confident in driving large snow clearing machinery on the boardwalk. With this upgrade, the future of the Victoria Park Boardwalk has been secured for the next 25-50 years. The response from the public has been overwhelmingly positive. This project carried a cost of approximately $750,000.

The Waterfront Threat Assessment offers a unique insight into present and future conditions in the Charlottetown Harbour, it is the first comprehensive study of its kind: evaluating winds, waves and extreme water levels along the Charlottetown waterfront under both present-day conditions and under future conditions based on the latest and most reliable climate change scenarios.

With a project budget of approximately $650,000 the development included a new “City of Charlottetown” sign, two feature walls with interpretative panels, a new piece of public art, flag poles, benches, new pedestrian pathway, trees and landscaping. The new Charlottetown sign features the “birthplace of confederation” slogan on a black and red granite face. Color changing LED lighting illuminates the sign at night and catch people’s eyes. Flanking the new sign on both sides are the two feature walls. These walls have beautiful brick work and are filled with 1864 themed interpretative panels in three languages, English, French and Mi’kmaq. $100,000 of the project budget was dedicated to a new piece of public art. A national open competition was held where artists put forward their interpretation of the meaning of the 1864 meeting. The art is located on the Water Street side of the project area and will be very visible, unique and eye catching to both vehicles and the walking public.

Flag poles for all the provinces and territories are erected along with a new pedestrian pathway that connects the waterfront boardwalk to the Confederation trail. The project was finished off with new benches, significant tree planting and beautiful landscaping.

The Great George Heritage Walk is a 2014 legacy project. This development was spear headed by the project champion Kevin Murphy. Partnering on the project are PEI 2014 Inc., the City of Charlottetown, Kevin Murphy, the Gray Group and CADC. With an approximate value of $160,000 the development includes a life size bronze sculpture of two of the fathers of confederation as well as 4 interpretative panels along Great George Street.

The bronze sculpture was created by Canadian sculpture Nathan Scott of British Columbia. It features John Hamilton Gray, one of the PEI delegates, as well as John Hamilton Gray, one of New Brunswick’s delegates. No, that’s not a mistake, interestingly two of the fathers of confederation had the exact same name. The bronze work took place over a 10 month period and was installed in September of 2014.

The venue site, which is located in the east end of Charlottetown, is on lands formerly owned by Imperial Oil. The site is bisected into two parts by Grafton Street and has Water Street Parkway running along its Southern side.

Land use on the site has historically been land fill, rail transportation, fuel storage and as an electrical transmission corridor. Rail transportation was abandoned on P.E.I. in the mid 1980’s with the removal of track and associated signaling along the rail corridor. Electric power transmission lines still remained but in 2002 all fuel storage tanks were removed along with the associated service pipelines, filler tracks and some hard surface paving materials.

The new parking area on the North side of Grafton will be connected to the existing asphalt parking lot off Park Street, used by the Charlottetown Civic Centre. The new parking facility will have space for 543 vehicles, 12 buses and will be utilized by Holland College and local businesses on a daily basis. This new parking facility will be outfitted with energy efficient LED lighting and entrance gates to control parking during the various events.

Site development on the main concert site consists of the importation of approximately 40,000 cubic meters of fill, topsoil, aggregate and asphalt to bring the venue site up to its current grade level. The addition of energy efficient LED lighting will allow the site to be both beautiful and efficient. Still to be completed in the spring of 2013 is the planting of hundreds of Acadian forest trees which will fill the embankments along Water and Grafton Street. The main lawn area is 3.5 acres and can accommodate upwards of 20,000 – 25,000 people. The site has power and water delivered to various strategic areas of the site to accommodate the widest possible range of events and uses including the PEI International Shell Fish Festival and the PEI Fall Flavors Festival. Provisions have also been put in place to accommodate snow making equipment for the Jack Frost Children’s Winter Fest.

The Charlottetown Event Grounds will serve as a great addition to PEI’s tourism infrastructure. The site will be enjoyed by locals and visitors to the Island alike. These grounds will provide lasting benefits for many generations to come and is something that Charlottetown and all of PEI can be proud of.

The venue site, which is located in the east end of Charlottetown, is on lands formerly owned by Imperial Oil. The site is bisected into two parts by Grafton Street and has Water Street Parkway running along its Southern side.

Land use on the site has historically been land fill, rail transportation, fuel storage and as an electrical transmission corridor. Rail transportation was abandoned on P.E.I. in the mid 1980’s with the removal of track and associated signaling along the rail corridor. Electric power transmission lines still remained but in 2002 all fuel storage tanks were removed along with the associated service pipelines, filler tracks and some hard surface paving materials.

The new parking area on the North side of Grafton will be connected to the existing asphalt parking lot off Park Street, used by the Charlottetown Civic Centre. The new parking facility will have space for 543 vehicles, 12 buses and will be utilized by Holland College and local businesses on a daily basis. This new parking facility will be outfitted with energy efficient LED lighting and entrance gates to control parking during the various events.

Site development on the main concert site consists of the importation of approximately 40,000 cubic meters of fill, topsoil, aggregate and asphalt to bring the venue site up to its current grade level. The addition of energy efficient LED lighting will allow the site to be both beautiful and efficient. Still to be completed in the spring of 2013 is the planting of hundreds of Acadian forest trees which will fill the embankments along Water and Grafton Street. The main lawn area is 3.5 acres and can accommodate upwards of 20,000 – 25,000 people. The site has power and water delivered to various strategic areas of the site to accommodate the widest possible range of events and uses including the PEI International Shell Fish Festival and the PEI Fall Flavors Festival. Provisions have also been put in place to accommodate snow making equipment for the Jack Frost Children’s Winter Fest.

The Charlottetown Event Grounds will serve as a great addition to PEI’s tourism infrastructure. The site will be enjoyed by locals and visitors to the Island alike. These grounds will provide lasting benefits for many generations to come and is something that Charlottetown and all of PEI can be proud of. For booking information please contact Stu Dunn at the Eastlink Centre, 902-629-6621 or events@eastlinkcentrepei.com.

The meetings and conventions sector has long been an important contributor to PEI tourism and the local economy.

The establishment of the current convention space at the Delta Prince Edward in 1981 has resulted in PEI becoming an established and popular venue for meetings and conventions.

• In 2008, the meetings and conventions sector was worth $18.6 million with 20,000 total delegates
• In 2009, new records were set with 30,000 delegates driving the value of the sector to $28 million.

There are factors, however, that inhibit the sector’s ability to grow. The most critical factor is that PEI has difficulty attracting larger meetings (more than 300 exhibitors) that want to “meet, eat and exhibit” under one roof.  Large conventions have experienced significant logistical challenges in managing meetings, events, dining and displays in multiple venues. In spite of this factor, PEI continues to be an appealing destination for meeting planners. Building on this equity is essential to the long-term health of this sector of tourism on PEI.

Adding to the strategic importance of the meetings and conventions sector, PEI’s Tourism Advisory Council’s 5 year strategy focuses on product development to grow the tourism sector. This strategy includes a call to expand meetings and conventions space and capacity.

Cornerstone investments in tourism infrastructure have provided a sound footing for today’s tourism industry on PEI. Ranging from the original construction of the Confederation Centre of the Arts to the Delta Prince Edward and from golf course to the Confederation Bridge, infrastructure plays a foundational role in the growth and development of tourism on Prince Edward Island. The construction of the PEI Convention Centre is the next evolution of this sound tradition of tourism infrastructure investment.

The Town of Stratford contributed to infrastructure upgrades that create a village setting, with such amenities as wider sidewalks and historic theme lighting. Approximately 10% of the land in Phase 1 has been set aside for public green space which borders the entire waterfront of the parcel. The development plan for Phase 1 follows very closely the vision that was set out by a plan the Town had commissioned and developed as part of their core area development. Phase 1 will see 75% of the property developed into higher density residential use such as condos, apartments and townhouses, with the remaining 25% becoming mixed use commercial.

While the Charlottetown Area Development Corporation and its funding partners commissioned the development of this Plan, the implementation of the Plan will require the support and participation of many. This document provides a common vision for those many partners to work towards and describes how the Eastern Gateway should grow and change over the next 25-40 years.

The Eastern Gateway Waterfront Master Plan has the potential to frame dozens of individual decisions that will be made in the Gateway over the next decade and beyond. The Plan does not include all the detail required to make the concept a reality, but it will create a framework for more detailed planning in the future; it can guide public decisions about land use and zoning, capital investments and private decisions relative to locating and expanding businesses or institutions.

Finally, the Plan presents an inspiring concept that challenges both the community and the various decision makers involved in Charlottetown’s city-building processes to think differently about this part of their city and see its potential for a remarkable transformation.

CADC was able to help Stratford with the development of this beautiful business park by preparing drawing for the site plan.