The Official PEI Project Thread

[MontagueHill]

(from left to right) His Worship David MacDonald, Mayor of Souris, the Honourable Robert Ghiz, Premier of Prince Edward Island, the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Honourable Allan Campbell, Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning for Prince Edward Island, celebrate the completion of construction work on Main Street in Souris.


“Main Streets remain the heart of our communities across the country,” said Minister Shea. “Our government is pleased to have worked with the Government of Prince Edward Island and the Town of Souris to help revitalize Main Street, which will greatly enhance the area and contribute to its economic prosperity.”

“This project has not only improved the overall look of the town, but it has also improved road safety and has made a substantial improvement to the town’s sewer and water systems,” said Premier Ghiz. “Through our Rural Action Plan we continue to identify areas in need of improved infrastructure all over rural Prince Edward Island.”

“This project has greatly improved Souris’ sewer and water infrastructure, which will help contribute to the health of citizens,” said Mayor David MacDonald. “But beyond that it’s made the town more appealing from a tourism point of view by improving the streetscape.”

The revitalization of 2.1 kilometres of Souris’ Main Street was conducted in two phases and included repairs to both road and underground infrastructure. The water mains and sanitary sewers were replaced and the entire road cross section was upgraded to include a new curb, gutter and sidewalk, as well as a new asphalt road surface, thus improving water quality, increasing safety for drivers and pedestrians, and reducing vehicle wear and greenhouse gases.

The Government of Canada contributed $669,875 to the first phase of the project under the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund and Gas Tax Fund for sewer line, water line, and sidewalk replacement along Main Street. The Province of Prince Edward Island matched this contribution and provided an additional $3 million through Build PEI for further road construction and repairs. The City of Souris provided the balance of funding for this phase of construction, which totalled $4.3 million.

Federal contributions for the second phase of the project totalled over $1.9 million, including $1.6 million for road repairs from the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, and $310,000 from the Communities Component of the Building Canada Fund for further sewer line, water line, and sidewalk replacement. The Province of Prince Edward Island matched these federal contributions through Build PEI and the City of Souris contributed $310,000 for the water and sewer lines.

As part of the Government of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the $4-billion Infrastructure Stimulus Fund is providing funding for close to 4,000 infrastructure projects across the country.

Canada and Prince Edward Island are working together to create jobs and boost the economy, while making significant investments that help communities improve their infrastructure. Both governments have agreed to work together to ensure that these funds are delivered quickly and efficiently to municipalities in Prince Edward Island. In Prince Edward Island, some 18 projects, totaling a federal investment of over $16 million, have been approved since the launch of the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund.

[MontagueHill]

The Guardian, September 16 2010



ALBERTON - The building boom is continuing in Alberton.
Town Council recently approved a building permit for a six-unit apartment building on MacNeill Lane, a self-storage building for Argyle Street and gave the green light to the Jacques Cartier Arena Operating Committee’s application to put up a windmill.
That project still requires funding approval.
An application for interior renovations to the commercial building at 555 Main St., the former Sears store, was also approved.
As well, Town Council continues to search for a property to provide to Habitat for Humanity for a single-family dwelling proposed for next year.

[MontagueHill]

Last Updated: Monday, October 25, 2010 | 1:36 PM AT
CBC News
A Summerside developer plans to demolish a row of unsightly old houses on Notre Dame Street in the city's west end and build new family homes.

The existing rental houses are decades old and line the street backing on to the racetrack. Coun. Brent Gallant, chair of the city's economic development committee, told CBC News Monday the development should be a great boost for that part of the city.

"These properties are getting real old and tired," said Gallant.

"These are brand new properties, residential owned and new families will move into those things. I think it's an absolutely delightful proposal. And I think that if you talk to any of the neighbours along that way there that face these properties, [they] are pretty excited about it coming in as well."

Most of the old houses have already been bought by the developer, Terry Peters.

Gallant said the area has been approved for rezoning, but there are still some final approval processes needed before the demolition and building permits are issued. If everything goes according to plan construction is expected to begin in November.

[pei guy]

Originally Posted by MontagueHill

The Guardian, September 16 2010



ALBERTON - The building boom is continuing in Alberton.
Town Council recently approved a building permit for a six-unit apartment building on MacNeill Lane, a self-storage building for Argyle Street and gave the green light to the Jacques Cartier Arena Operating Committee’s application to put up a windmill.
That project still requires funding approval.
An application for interior renovations to the commercial building at 555 Main St., the former Sears store, was also approved.
As well, Town Council continues to search for a property to provide to Habitat for Humanity for a single-family dwelling proposed for next year.

Good for Alberton. It's great to see smaller towns getting their share of construction.

I also really like the new look of Main Street in Souris, and I hope the Summerside housing development will be good quality. Those houses are so teeny!

[pei guy]

Iceland arena coming down
By David MacDonald
[email protected]

The old Iceland Arena in Montague is nearing the end of the line as its current owner plans to have it demolished in the next few weeks.

Halifax developer Doug Zinck, who has owned the now-empty arena for the past couple of years, said he expects the building will be torn down before December 1.

For the past year, Mr Zinck has been working with a Halifax-based company about possibly building a hotel on the Iceland Arena property.

He said the project has been moving slowly as the company in question has been slow on its due diligence, “as to what they think the town will support in terms of units.” But Mr Zinck says it’s still a work in progress, and he said removing the old arena will freshen up the site for possible development.

“We thought we’d have the answer before this but they haven’t come back to say no so we’re moving forward. It’s not a dead issue.”

Mr Zinck said another reason for tearing down the building was that he was paying roughly $30,000 a year on taxes while the empty arena was still standing.

[pei guy]

Speaking of Alberton:

New subdivision planned for Alberton
By Cindy Chant
[email protected]

The Town of Alberton has purchased a 2.5 acre parcel of land located on Church Street and extending across the end of Poplar street, known as the O’Meara property.

The news was announced at Alberton Council’s regular monthly meeting, on Oct 12.

“We’ve had our eye on different properties for some time now,” said Mayor Michael Murphy, adding the new purchase can only mean good things for the community.

The Town already owns 23.16 acres of property which connects to the newly purchased land. The additional land provides another access from municipal streets.

The Town plans to build new municipal offices within the large parcel.

Its current quarters on Railway Street doesn’t provide much privacy for staff.

“We hope to get started as soon as later this fall (on the subdivision),” said Mayor Murphy.

[MontagueHill]

CBC News




With seven hectares of land available for development on its waterfront, the mayor-elect of Stratford, P.E.I. wants to make sure the town gets it right.

The property, now occupied by the Southport Motel, is about to be purchased by the Charlottetown Area Development Corporation.

"It's probably the prime, in our view anyway, the prime piece of commercial development land in the greater Charlottetown area right now," Robert Hughes, the chief administrative officer for the town, told CBC News Tuesday.

The plans are to put in three roads, carving out three city blocks. The first road will be built off Stratford Road, beside the CGI building.

"It'll be a wider road with parking on both sides, there will be trees and benches, and underground wiring and street lights," said Hughes.

"You'll probably see something like townhouses on the left-hand side as you go down the new road, and on the right-hand side you'll see buildings that are a mix of residential and commercial."

Hughes said a boardwalk along the waterfront will give people a panoramic view of the harbour.

Mayor-elect David Dunphy, who won office Monday night, has yet to take office but Tuesday he was briefed on the plans. Dunphy said it is important to make the area attractive.

"I understand it's private property and they can develop it, but as a town [we] have to really ensure that we retain as much green space as possible because once it's developed, we can't get it back," he said.

Residents will have a say in the development, he promised. The design work for the first phase will likely be done over the winter, with construction starting in the spring.

[pei guy]

The Montague roundabout is officially open! I took a little detour coming home today and I think it looks fantastic. Big enough for large trucks and a space in the centre circle for flowers and greenery. The construction was worth it!

There are a few new projects around Montague, such as:
-Renovation and expansion to the curling club
-New facade and window canopies at Old World Pizza
-Shoppers Drug Mart expansion and reno
-The old Roderick MacKenzie gas station has been demolished, presumably for a new commercial development

It's great to see!

[pei guy]

Blueberry juice operation given green light for plant
Published on November 10th, 2010
Steve Sharratt
MONTAGUE — The opening of a major juice and puree processing plant that will look to China as one of its major markets earned an operational green light here Monday when town council approved a sewer extension.

P.E.I. Berries Ltd. is locating in the former Choice Tobacco building – outside the town – near the liquor store and is expected to employ about 30 people and produce a puree of Island berries in the new $2 million plus conversion.

The company intends to pay the estimated $350,000 cost to hook up to the Montague sewer system as a way to flush its systems when it begins production next spring. Council was told connecting to an existing sewer system is preferable to building a septic system on the property.

“You’re ready to go,’’ said Mayor Richard Collins after council approved the request from company chief Julius Patkai.

P.E.I. Berries Ltd. has been slowly developing over the past few years, acquiring growing partners and technology to produce a new type product that will be unique in the marketplace. Patkai, who graduated Montague high school and grew up in the area, said the company will use local blueberries, cranberries, blackberries and strawberries in a bottled product that will have numerous applications and is designed for the high end health conscious marketplace.

“We will retail locally but our greatest demand will be from abroad,’’ said Patkai. “Our product will be all natural with no chemicals and used like a topping.”

The Commercial Road building is currently owned by the province and Patkai said the company will generate little waste and use its own water.

According to its website, P.E.I. Berries Ltd. says it is a family of stakeholders, i.e., owners, growers and employees, driven to succeed and believe in (the) overwhelming consumer appetite for high quality, environmentally sustainable healthier-natural food alternatives.

The plant will employ hydro thermodynamic technology (HTDT) to utilize 100% of the fruit matter by leaving no waste, thus supplying the consumer with a product of the highest nutritional value with a shelf life of two years at room temperature.

[MontagueHill]

A bypass around Crapaud is on P.E.I. Transportation Minister Ron MacKinley's list of proposed highway improvements. (CBC)


Changes planned for P.E.I. portions of the Trans-Canada could see the highway bypass Crapaud, a perennial bane for travellers heading for Charlottetown, and fix other dangerous sections, CBC News has learned.

The projects, to be announced jointly by Ottawa and the province, would redesign some of the more treacherous sections of the highway between the Confederation Bridge and Charlottetown at a cost of as much as $20 million.

The province set aside $15 million in its capital budget last year for Trans-Canada improvements. The money was to be matched by Ottawa under its Atlantic Gateway project, which is meant to allow for quicker, safer, movement of goods in the region.

P.E.I. Transportation Minister Ron MacKinley has identified four sections of the Trans-Canada Highway he wants redesigned and improved, and is expected to announce soon that work on at least two of them will go ahead.

The top priority is a bypass around Churchill, to circumvent its steep hills and twisting sections. MacKinley has also said he wants to straighten parts of the road and bridge along the Desable section of the highway.

There are also plans for a bypass route around Crapaud. Currently the highway runs through the town's centre and includes a T intersection at the bottom of a steep hill at a sharp corner.

MacKinley also wants to rebuild another sharply curved section of highway, known as the Tryon Y, where two rural roads feed onto the Trans-Canada.

MacKinley turned down an interview Tuesday but said construction work will begin next year.

There will be public meetings and consultations on the projects.

[MontagueHill]

The Homburg hotel is the first building visible behind Province House in Charlottetown. (Pat Martel/CBC)

[pei guy]

The TCH improvements are great. It really is dangerous in parts between Charlottetown and Borden. Who knows, maybe they'll even make it a... DIVIDED HIGHWAY.

That is a really good picture of the new hotel, it shows the balance of new and old that Ch'town has.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by pei guy

The TCH improvements are great. It really is dangerous in parts between Charlottetown and Borden. Who knows, maybe they'll even make it a... DIVIDED HIGHWAY.

I can't imagine the TCH between the Confederation Bridge and Charlottetown ever being divided. It would be good to have portions of it realligned and perhaps more passing lanes.

What I would really like to see them do is to four-lane the entire Charlottetown Bypass and finish the bypass all the way to Cornwall. That should be feasible!

[MonctonRad]

P.E.I. plans to subsidize flights from U.S.
Last Updated: Sunday, November 28, 2010 | 1:21 PM AT
CBC News

Tourism P.E.I.'s goals for 2011 include getting more people to fly to the Island by subsidizing some airline service for a short period.

Flights from New York or another city in the eastern U.S. may be targeted.

Brenda Gallant, director of tourism marketing for P.E.I., said Friday it would be a good promotion and could prove to U.S. airlines that they'd be more likely to fill their planes if they reduced prices on their own.

"Hopefully, what we'll see is that people will want to come visit us if the pricing point is right for them," said Gallant. "That obviously makes it a good conversation to have with some of the airlines looking at, is this a possibility?"

This has been a good year for tourism in the province. Tourism P.E.I. estimated the number of visitors will be up 2.6 per cent over 2009.

Part of the rise may be thanks to the presence of the popular U.S. morning television show Live! with Regis and Kelly in July. The show received high ratings during a four-day visit to P.E.I.

Other large events for the province in 2010 included SummerFest and the Cavendish Beach Music Festival.

Getting people excited
The plan also calls for more event-based marketing. Officials want to market P.E.I. on the road with bands, cuisine, personalities and showcasing them in other provinces.

"We will put some marketing effort behind it and really get people excited about Prince Edward Island," she said.

In June, Tourism P.E.I. will start a Prince Edward Island fusion festival, modelled on Scotland's Edinburgh International Festival for performing arts.

It will take festivals that already happen during that time, like the Festival of Small Halls, the Rollo Bay Bluegrass Festival and Canada Day celebrations, and market them under one name.

The goal is to get visitors to the Island up by 1.5 per cent in 2011

While it's a good idea to promote more direct routes to the Charlottetown airport during the summer season, I'm not sure I approve of the idea of a direct government subsidy, especially during these economic times.

It's interesting that this story was closed to comments on the CBC website.....



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-i...fly-people-to-pei-584.html#ixzz16YJyv4YW

[pei guy]

Cornwall to get new pharmacy and health centre
Published on December 2nd, 2010

The Town of Cornwall will soon be getting a state of the art pharmacy and health centre to meet the needs of its growing population.

The Murphy’s Pharmacy and Health Centre will open in 2011 and will include a full service pharmacy, expanded front store, and a multi-disciplinary health centre.

The health centre will be built on the Trans-Canada Highway between Sam's Restaurant and the Imperial Oil gas station.

Dr. David Stewart, the only family doctor currently practicing in Cornwall, will have an office in the new centre and is hopeful more doctors will join him.

“A new facility is long overdue, it will greatly assist in attracting badly needed health care professionals to the community of Cornwall. I am proud to be a part of this exciting project,” says Stewart.

The need for a full service, multi-disciplinary health centre for the town of Cornwall was identified by Dr. Stewart and Patrick MacFadyen, former mayor of Cornwall. MacFadyen was instrumental in bringing Dr. Stewart, Murphy’s Pharmacies, and other stakeholders to the table over the past 12 months to move the project forward.

“I am very pleased to hear this news,” says Ron MacKinley, MLA for Cornwall-Meadowbank. “Murphy’s Pharmacies has been a great asset to the community over the years. Cornwall is a growing community and more space is needed so I am glad to see they are expanding the pharmacy and clinic, and I hope this will help to attract more doctors.”

Murphy’s Pharmacies currently operates a chain of nine independent pharmacies in Prince Edward Island. Murphy’s Pharmacies also operates a Home Health Care division, a Health Education Centre, a Travel Health Clinic, and Murphy’s Community Centre. The company is Island owned and operated and is a multiple national award winner in the areas of health promotion, patient care, innovation, and charitable work.

“We have had a loyal clientele at our current location in Cornwall for many years but the town is growing and the people are looking for more products and expanded health services,” says Ray Murphy, president of Murphy’s Pharmacies, “Murphy’s Pharmacies is very pleased to be expanding our offering in this area and to be giving the people of Cornwall a great facility to house the health services they are looking for.”

[Dmajackson]

^Is this a fancy way of explaining a pharmacy with doctor's offices upstairs (ie Lawton's medical centres) or is the multi-disciplinary feature different?

[pei guy]

Hahaha, in some ways yes. But what they are basically going to do is a 2-storey building maybe twice the size of those Lawton's centres, and it will function as a mini-hospital for Cornwall. Murphy's Pharmacies is an Island pharmacy, so all of their stores have different designs and in this case, purposes.

So it is quite similair to those stores, but serves as (like I said earlier) a mini-hospital. Don't worry, the Island news isn't that desperate!

[MontagueHill]

Some of the new businesses have moved into the Waterfront Mall. (CBC)



There's been an unexpected boom in the number of new businesses opening in the downtown of P.E.I.'s second city. Nine businesses have opened in Summerside's downtown in the last month, some of on the streets and some in the Waterfront Mall. Miranda MacDonald just opened the dog grooming shop Puppy Love, and she said business is off to a good start.

"Everybody needs their dog cleaned up for Christmas because they've got to be in the family photos," she said. And MacDonald expects her first business venture will continue to go well.

"People are saying that the location's really good, because they're going to the bank, they're running down to the store, the malls, all the little shops," she said. "I think it'll be really good when the summer comes, with all the other businesses that open in the summer."

Other recent openings include an antique store, a bookstore and a fitness studio. One of the attractions is relatively low rent. "Hopefully the businesses do well, and economically, it's going to be a great spin-off for the city," said Ron Casey, executive director of Downtown Summerside Inc.

During the mini-boom four businesses left the downtown, either for Charlottetown, the malls uptown, or closing down completely. But Casey said there has been a net gain in the number of people working downtown. And the building is not over yet. The downtown will welcome a new pharmacy in January.

[braymondg]

Major housing project for seniors in works for Charlottetown

The Guardian
Published on December 13th, 2010
Andrew Chisholm

The Sherwood Greens Driving Range on Mount Edward Road could soon be developed into a 256-unit neighbourhood geared toward aging Islanders.

There are several concepts of what the community could look like.

Each one features different variations of layout and structure sizes but they all incorporate the same number of units and green space.

The concept before the city’s planning board consists of two 80-unit continuing care buildings, one 60-unit apartment-style, assisted-living building and 76 single and semi-detached houses.

Because the area is zoned for comprehensive development, city council will need to amend the zoning and development bylaw.

Following a public meeting last week, the city’s planning board approved the general concept of the plan and will recommend to council at its monthly meeting tonight that the zoning and development bylaw be amended. The developers will be required to bring their final concept back to the board for approval.

Access to Mount Edward Road at Oak Drive is pending approval upon reviews from police and public works.

If approved by city council, the developers would like to see people moving into the area as early as next October. Demand for this type of development is high, says Calvin McQuaid, who is one of the developers behind the project.

“There’s a large demand for it. We have a large waiting list right now.”

The McQuaid family has been working on the project for over two years.

Given the size of the development, the family has been having a difficult time with the city’s requirements about comprehensive development.

“You have to know exactly where everything’s going to go and it’s really hard to do with (almost) 300 units,” says McQuaid.

Rob Lantz, the newly appointed chair of the planning board, says the city uses comprehensive development zoning to make sure large parcels of land around the city are properly developed.

“That’s exactly why we do it,” he said. “The (city) planners want to have control over it.”

Access to the new neighbourhood would be made via the private lane known as Towers Road with the possibility of an entrance onto Mount Edward Road.

[MonctonRad]

There was a path through a disused farmers field here that I used as a shortcut to get to Charlottetown Mall when I lived in Sherwood in the late 1970's. It will be interesting to see this land get developed.