Charlottetown resident upset over proposed sale of city event grounds

A Charlottetown resident is upset with the proposal to sell the Charlottetown Event Grounds to Holland College.

The college has been in discussions with the provincial government for months on its proposal to buy the property and build a multi-sport turf field on the site. The college has said it will run the site in partnership with the province, the city and other groups.

However, Randy Campbell is not satisfied with that arrangement.

"My position is that the residents have already spoken," said Campbell, who lives in downtown Charlottetown.

'No accountability' in private hands

"They [residents] would like to see a public waterfront park, and Holland College pushing to acquire the event grounds is wasteful and undermines our democratic process."

Campbell attended public consultation sessions on the Eastern Gateway plan in 2018, and has been following it since it was first proposed in 2011. The Eastern Gateway is a long-term plan for the area near the Hillsborough Bridge.

"This is 20 acres on the waterfront of Charlottetown so what we do with this property is incredibly important," Campbell said.

"As long as the city owns the property, we can work towards a world-class waterfront public park but as soon as the property is transferred into private hands, there's no accountability and the vision that the hundreds of residents came out to dream more or less dies."

Lobbying efforts

Campbell said he has been sending emails to Holland College as well as city councillors and MLAs for the area.

"It's okay if there is a turf field so long as the city owns the property," Campbell said.

"I'd like to see the college's leadership acknowledge the vision that came out of the official consultation process and say that they respect it and support it and that they will work with the city to make sure that that vision is realized."

The property is owned by the Charlottetown Area Development Corporation (CADC).

CADC is owned in large part by the province, with the city of Charlottetown and town of Stratford owning smaller stakes. In 2017 the province announced CADC would be replaced by regional economic advisory councils. However, that hasn't happened yet.

In the Official Plan

Campbell points out that the Eastern Gateway plan — and the Eastern Waterfront Park on the current site of the event grounds — are part of Charlottetown's official plan.

"The city should be advocating for CADC to transfer the land either to the city or to the economic development agency that is going to replace CADC," Campbell said.

"The vision from the residents is for a world-class waterfront public park and that means that the land has to be in the hands of either Charlottetown or an economic development agency that is accountable to the taxpayers."

Campbell is asking that Holland College back away from the proposal and the city restart the consultation process over what should happen to the property.

"The residents of Charlottetown understand the value of public parks and that's why they came out over the course of the last nine years to say, this is what we want," Campbell said.

"When the college comes forward and says we'd like this to be a private turf field, I think a lot of people are going to be very disappointed."

The deputy minister with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism chairs the CADC board, and Charlottetown's CAO is a board member.

City can't afford to buy

A spokesperson for the department said CADC and the provincial government are in negotiations for the potential sale of the event grounds.

Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown said the city can't afford to purchase the grounds.

"The city is financially not in a position to do that because we have other commitments that we're looking at," Brown said.

"For example replacing Simmons Sports Centre, the Cody Banks arena and looking at building a new twin pad or tri-pad arena facility, and we're also looking at some other infrastructure projects within the city."

More consultation promised

The mayor said Holland College will have to share its plans with the city once the deal is done, and that will likely involve a public meeting.

"Our concerns will be addressed when we get a land use proposal from Holland College and most likely it will go to a public consultation," Brown said. "We'll get lots of input from residents of Charlottetown and council will get a chance to debate."

Campbell said a public meeting after the deal is done will be too late. Brown countered that perhaps Holland College would consider public consultations happen before the sale takes place.

Holland College president Sandy MacDonald said he's been meeting with all of the groups who currently use the Event Grounds as well as the mayor and the city councillor for the area.

MacDonald has said while the college would own the entire property, it would be run in partnership with the province, city and other groups, allowing the annual Shellfish Festival and Jack Frost Winterfest to continue to be held there.

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