Decaying Charlottetown seawall getting major upgrades

Work to repair the crumbling seawall around the Charlottetown Yacht Club is underway, thanks to $5.5 million in funding from three levels of government, the Charlottetown Area Development Corporation and the club itself.

The plan calls for deteriorating wood and metal to be replaced with concrete, with the wharf's height rising by roughly 0.9 to 1.2 metres.

Local businesses and boaters say the current seawall, designed to prevent sections of earth from eroding into the harbour, is falling apart.

Jenna Shinn, a co-owner of the Salt & Sol restaurant, said the seawall does a poor job of keeping water away from the building during extreme weather. The restaurant is located directly above the yacht club.

"There have been days where the tide comes up almost to the deck and obviously we don't want that to happen," she said.

Shinn said the changes could attract more boats and foot traffic to the area.

Jonathan Ross has been a member of the yacht club since the early 2000s.

"If we get a storm surge, it can put my boat right up on the wharf," he said.

"And now that it's going to be extended and a little higher, it's going to make it that much more secure and safe."

He said the increase in storms is causing more washouts on the wharf at the club, and repairs are long overdue.

Stephen Cudmore, a former yacht club commodore, said large winds and high tides can wipe out large portions of the seawall, and negatively affect the nine businesses that operate around the club.

"The minute we have a major weather event where we need to rebuild, they all skid to a halt or potentially can," he said. "It can affect a lot of businesses and a lot of people when those events occur."

The yacht club is also home to the only fuel supply station in the Charlottetown harbour. Cudmore said organizations like the coast guard and RCMP rely on the station to fill up, in addition to many fishers and tourists.

"They all rely on that fuel supply," he said. "And if we lose that wharf we lose that fuel supply, and we lose a lot of economic activity on the downtown waterfront."