The Official PEI Project Thread

[billy1]

Originally Posted by billy1

New retail development in Stratford.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-stratford-retail-development-1.4656437

Construction has started for this project. Fencing is up and the land has been cleared.

[ryan93]

Lots of construction in Stratford! Other than Shoppers, any word what other business' will be going here? What about the old Home Hardware building?

[Sasha]

I have heard rumors that No Frills is relocating over to that area. It sounds stupid, but when you think about it it's not. The Superstore and Sobeys in Charlottetown next to the mall are pretty close and there are customers to go around. This is purely a rumor though, so I would take it with the largest grain of salt that is physically possible.

[billy1]

I don't think NoFrills would be moving to this development. They are owned by Loblaws and this development is being spearheaded by the Sobeys real estate division.

[Ire Narissis]

Also, where would they even go? None of the 3 new buildings is even remotely close to large enough for a major grocery banner like No Frills.

[Sasha]

Sorry for not being specific enough. I'm talking about the building across the street, the old hardware store.

[billy1]

Stratford proposes 2-school, multi-sports field complex.

The Town of Stratford, P.E.I., has unveiled a plan for a complex with two schools housing 1,600 students, a sports arena, and multiple sports fields.

The complex would cover a 65-hectare area.

"School infrastructure is very, very important to parents and residents of Stratford," said Stratford Mayor David Dunphy.

"We have to get that message across to the Public Schools Branch, to the Public Schools Branch board and to the province of P.E.I."





Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-stratford-school-complex-1.4795803








Source: http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/local/...ools-and-recreational-facilities-235858/

[MonctonRad]

Impressive. Who's going to pay for this???

My only concern is the huge footprint of this proposal. I think it's a waste of land, especially potentially useful high quality agricultural land, something that's in relatively short supply in Canada (less than 5% of Canada's overall territory). I wonder if there is any possibility of making this proposal a little more compact........

[Taeolas]

Impressive indeed. As for using up the space, the fact is, most sports fields need flat land, so it will 'eat' into available land.

Given Stratford's closeness to Charlottetown, it may be futureproofing the town. Charlottetown is likely to swallow it up eventually; a project like this will give the town a solid anchor to keep its identity in the bigger city and keep people local instead of going to facilities in Charlottetown.

[billy1]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

Impressive indeed. As for using up the space, the fact is, most sports fields need flat land, so it will 'eat' into available land.

Given Stratford's closeness to Charlottetown, it may be futureproofing the town. Charlottetown is likely to swallow it up eventually; a project like this will give the town a solid anchor to keep its identity in the bigger city and keep people local instead of going to facilities in Charlottetown.

This proposal was brought forth because most schools in the Charlottetown area are over capacity or at capacity. All High School students in Stratford are bused to Charlottetown High Schools, along with many middle school children.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by billy1

This proposal was brought forth because most schools in the Charlottetown area are over capacity or at capacity. All High School students in Stratford are bused to Charlottetown High Schools, along with many middle school children.

Indeed, and both Charlottetown high schools (Colonel Gray - my alma mater, and Charlottetown Rural) are on the other side of town to boot. A third high school in Stratford makes sense.

If Moncton can have six high schools, surely Charlottetown can have three.

Regarding the sports fields, I realize they will eat up a lot of land, it just seems like there is excess space between the sports fields. I realize this will be parkland, it just seems a lot.

The CN Sportsplex in Moncton contains a 4-pad rink complex and multiple soccer and baseball field like this, but it was built on a brownfield site (the old CN Shops), and would have been difficult to develop for any other purpose. This land in Stratford however could be valuable for many things including continued agricultural use, market gardens, residential growth etc.

I still think they could tighten things up........

[billy1]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Indeed, and both Charlottetown high schools (Colonel Gray - my alma mater, and Charlottetown Rural) are on the other side of town to boot. A third high school in Stratford makes sense.

If Moncton can have six high schools, surely Charlottetown can have three.

Regarding the sports fields, I realize they will eat up a lot of land, it just seems like there is excess space between the sports fields. I realize this will be parkland, it just seems a lot.

The CN Sportsplex in Moncton contains a 4-pad rink complex and multiple soccer and baseball field like this, but it was built on a brownfield site (the old CN Shops), and would have been difficult to develop for any other purpose. This land in Stratford however could be valuable for many things including continued agricultural use, market gardens, residential growth etc.

I still think they could tighten things up........

The Charlottetown area has 3 High Schools currently. Colonel Gray, Charlottetown Rural and Bluefield High School. A Stratford High School would make 4.

[MonctonRad]

I forgot about Bluefield (I left Charlottetown in 1979). It's a little out of town though. Is it even within Cornwall town limits???

Although, given the current location of Moncton High School, I shouldn't complain. At least MHS is still within Moncton city limits (just barely).

[billy1]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I forgot about Bluefield (I left Charlottetown in 1979). It's a little out of town though. Is it even within Cornwall town limits???

Although, given the current location of Moncton High School, I shouldn't complain. At least MHS is still within Moncton city limits (just barely).

Cornwall, North River and some Winsloe students attend Bluefield.

[Taeolas]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Regarding the sports fields, I realize they will eat up a lot of land, it just seems like there is excess space between the sports fields. I realize this will be parkland, it just seems a lot.

Looking at the overhead view, the sports fields seem to be decently spaced. Baseball fields are a bit awkward to place, and the other fields basically have room for spectators. There is basically a lot of empty space next to the parking lot above the ovals, but that should look nice for aesthetics. (and probably be room for future development)

The most 'wasted' space I see is down by the schools, between the central road and the actual buildings there is a lot of space. But I'm sure the schools would like that space, maybe for building their own community garden space or similar outdoor uses. (and hopefully not just have space to put the "portable" classrooms when the buildings are inevitably built too small)

[MonctonRad]

I agree with your observations. They're better than mine.

BTW, am I the only one who thinks that the site plan above was created with Sim City 4???

[billy1]

The construction fence is up for this building;





Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-ed...t-building-mi-kmaq-confederacy-1.3686214

[Sasha]

Holy guacamole, that school is huge !

[Franco401]

Someone should tell Stratford how induced demand works. Those schools will be above capacity within 15 years.

[braymondg]

Originally Posted by Franco401

Someone should tell Stratford how induced demand works. Those schools will be above capacity within 15 years.

At 13.2% growth in the last few census', the projection is Stratford has approached the 10,500 mark. Those schools will be over capacity in 5 years I bet as the population may approach the 12,000 mark by the next census.
If Summerside can have a junior and senior high school, so should Stratford.