More money for Charlottetown heritage property owners available

Those in Charlottetown with heritage properties could get a bit more money from the city this year. In the recent budget, council bumped up the amount set aside for heritage grants by around $7,500 for a total $65,000 for 2019-2020.

"We saw how positive this program was and how much it was used in the past and we thought by putting some more money into that program would be beneficial to those who have the historic properties that are looking to maintain them or enhance them," said Greg Rivard, chair of the planning committee.

The grants help heritage property owners with upkeep on their buildings, which can be expensive, Rivard said. The program has been extremely popular, even running out of money in the past few years, something Rivard expects will happen again.

"With the amount of development going on in Charlottetown and people restoring some of the homes in the downtown area, I believe that it will get eaten up pretty quickly again," Rivard said.

"Which is positive, and again, the longer this happens and the quicker the fund goes, council will see the benefit of having the program and again maybe next year the grant again goes up and more people can tap into it."

The program is now open for applications and is first come first served, and is based on the type of work being planned.

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