Construction of Charlottetown’s new convention centre is a step closer after the federal government signed over a parcel of land on the city’s waterfront Tuesday.
Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, Premier Robert Ghiz and Charlottetown Area Development Corporation (CADC) chairman Dave McInnis made the transfer official with the signing at the Delta Prince Edward.
McInnis said it was great to see the project move one step closer to completion now that the land transfer is out of the way.
“Some people probably didn’t believe it was going to happen but it’s definitely going to,” he said.
The transferred land was home to the Fisheries and Oceans department, and the Canadian Coast Guard, which have temporarily moved to Stratford.
CADC took ownership of the land after the federal government transferred it first to the provincial government, which owns a stake in CADC.
The federal and provincial governments are splitting the $17.5 million cost to build the convention centre and last month the first tenders were called to extend a seawall for part of the building.
The 3,240-square-metre convention centre is expected to be finished by the fall of 2012 and while the CADC will own it, Delta will manage it as an extension of the Delta Prince Edward’s existing conference facilities.
Delta Prince Edward general manager Zubair Siddiqi said there are about 6,000 room nights booked in area hotels in anticipation of the convention centre, which is a big increase over what would be booked with the city’s current conference capacity.
“Not only the add-on of the convention centre allows us to be able to attract larger conventions associations events, it just sends the overflow to the area hotels,” he said.
Siddiqi said the addition of a convention centre to the city means area hotels will be able to fill rooms during what would normally be a shoulder season and extend the existing tourism season.
“For us to be able to have a product which complements and allows us to compete not regionally but also on a national basis we’re able to attract the right piece of business for the right time when we need them the most.”
Chiefs Darlene Bernard and Brian Francis from the Mi’kmaq Confederacy were also at the announcement because local First Nations will have access to nearby land for economic development as part of the transfer agreement.
Ghiz said when the federal government divests itself of any land First Nations have to be consulted and the Mi’kmaq Confederacy was brought in on the discussions before the province approached the federal government about the convention centre.
“Looking back it was two years, but now everything is in place and we’re ready to go to start the construction of a new convention centre,” - Fisheries Minister Gail Shea
“We wanted to make sure that the aboriginal leaders were with us right from the beginning and they’re going to have an opportunity to look for some business opportunities themselves in the Queens Wharf area business,” he said.
Shea said the land transfer took some time because it was occupied by DFO and the Canadian Coast Guard, which meant they had to be moved before the transfer could be completed.
“Looking back it was two years, but now everything is in place and we’re ready to go to start the construction of a new convention centre,” she said.
As for the prospect of thousands of potential room bookings in anticipation of the convention centre, McInnis said that’s why it’s being built.
“That’s what it’s all about. That’s just the start.”
