Confederation Centre CEO says crews will limit Victoria Row impact during renovation

Confederation Centre CEO Steve Bellamy is trying to ease some concerns expressed recently on social media about an upcoming major renovation at the centre. 

The centre will undergo big changes in the next couple of years. The space that used to host Charlottetown's main provincial library branch will be converted into a national cultural leadership institute, including an arts academy, an arts innovation hub to create new musical theatre, and studios for artists in residence.

The project has raised concerns with restaurants on the Victoria Row portion of Richmond Street, a major outdoor dining area in the city. Bellamy said he understands those concerns.

"Of course everyone is concerned about being adjacent to a construction site for a couple of seasons," said Bellamy.

"The thing is, in order to do that renovation, there will be periods of time over the next 20 months or so where, as we understand the permit applications, the machines that are needed to do that work need to access it from Richmond Street."

The centre will do whatever it can to minimize that impact, he said.

Bellamy said he recently saw a social media post stating the project will require a fence through the middle of the south sidewalk, which would eliminate the dining patios. He said that is not the case.

"We would always have fencing north of the patios. The south sidewalk would not be affected, the patios would not be affected," said Bellamy.

"Businesses' ability to stay open is important. We, in fact, want the fencing as close to the centre for as long as possible, and it should only move out when machine access is needed."

Some disturbance will be unavoidable, he acknowledged. There will be noise, particularly during the demolition phase.

As much as possible, he said, construction managers will keep that kind of work away from high season.

Bellamy pointed out that Victoria Row will come out of the renovation looking much nicer, when all is said and done. A large retaining wall and a loading dock will be removed, and the current side entrance will be expanded.

"This is going to be a short-term inconvenience for a very significant gain for Charlottetown and the Island," said Bellamy.

The start date for the renovation is not yet fixed, he said, but he said work will not begin before Oct. 7. That's a day after Farm Day in the City, which brings dozens of vendors and thousands of visitors to the Queen Street-Richmond Row area.