The Charlottetown Legion building could soon be home to a fitness centre.
The legion has reached an agreement in principle to sell the building to Brighton Construction and Dynamic Fitness, on the condition that the legion gets to lease space and maintain a presence in the three-storey building on Pownal Street.
The City of Charlottetown has scheduled a public meeting for Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. to discuss a bylaw amendment that would allow it to happen.
The exact change would see the words 'fitness centre as it pertains to 99 Pownal Street' added to the downtown mixed use neighbourhood zone of the zoning and development bylaw.
The amendment doesn't permit fitness centres but would allow a fitness centre to operate only at 99 Pownal Street.
The legion will occupy the first floor of the building. Brighton Construction will take over the second floor while Dynamic Fitness will move its gym from Queen Street into the third floor of the legion building.
Gilles Painchaud, past-president of the P.E.I. Command and chairman of the board of trustees, told The Guardian on Friday that the legion membership ratified the sale on Thursday night.
The sale is scheduled to close Sept. 30.
"We are leasing the first floor of the building for five years,'' Painchaud said. "It wasn't an issue. We always said, right from the beginning, that we were not looking at closing the legion branch in Charlottetown.
"We always said we needed a legion presence in Charlottetown. By leasing a portion of the premises it gives us a five-year period to see what we're going to do (beyond that).''
Painchaud said it's too early to say what the legion branch's long-term plans are but acknowledged that they might look to purchase a smaller building.
The building, which has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations over the past few years, was put up for sale in April. The asking price was in the $900,000 range.
Provincial Command-appointed trustees have been in control of the Charlottetown branch for several months trying to address the financially struggling operation.
There have been no plans to close the branch, which has about 500 members, a number that has plummeted over the years.
The change means the legion will go from occupying 18,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet. Painchaud said activities like bingo will continue.
Renovations will include making the building fully wheelchair accessible.
Dave 'Eli' MacEachern, who owns Dynamic Fitness, could not be reached for comment on Friday.
The Charlottetown Legion building could soon be home to a fitness centre.
The legion has reached an agreement in principle to sell the building to Brighton Construction and Dynamic Fitness, on the condition that the legion gets to lease space and maintain a presence in the three-storey building on Pownal Street.
The City of Charlottetown has scheduled a public meeting for Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. to discuss a bylaw amendment that would allow it to happen.
The exact change would see the words 'fitness centre as it pertains to 99 Pownal Street' added to the downtown mixed use neighbourhood zone of the zoning and development bylaw.
The amendment doesn't permit fitness centres but would allow a fitness centre to operate only at 99 Pownal Street.
The legion will occupy the first floor of the building. Brighton Construction will take over the second floor while Dynamic Fitness will move its gym from Queen Street into the third floor of the legion building.
Gilles Painchaud, past-president of the P.E.I. Command and chairman of the board of trustees, told The Guardian on Friday that the legion membership ratified the sale on Thursday night.
The sale is scheduled to close Sept. 30.
"We are leasing the first floor of the building for five years,'' Painchaud said. "It wasn't an issue. We always said, right from the beginning, that we were not looking at closing the legion branch in Charlottetown.
"We always said we needed a legion presence in Charlottetown. By leasing a portion of the premises it gives us a five-year period to see what we're going to do (beyond that).''
Painchaud said it's too early to say what the legion branch's long-term plans are but acknowledged that they might look to purchase a smaller building.
The building, which has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations over the past few years, was put up for sale in April. The asking price was in the $900,000 range.
Provincial Command-appointed trustees have been in control of the Charlottetown branch for several months trying to address the financially struggling operation.
There have been no plans to close the branch, which has about 500 members, a number that has plummeted over the years.
The change means the legion will go from occupying 18,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet. Painchaud said activities like bingo will continue.
Renovations will include making the building fully wheelchair accessible.
Dave 'Eli' MacEachern, who owns Dynamic Fitness, could not be reached for comment on Friday.