4 groups looking for help from Charlottetown at budget time

Charlottetown city council heard from four groups Monday evening looking for help from the city as it puts together its budget for 2023-24.

Here's how much they were looking for, and why.

Confederation Centre of the Arts, $5M

The Confederation Centre is looking for assistance with a major redevelopment following the move of the provincial library across the street.

The $5 million over the next five years from the city is a small piece of what the centre is seeking from governments, which also includes $30 million from Ottawa and $20 million from the province.

In addition to making new uses for the old library space, the project would move the loading dock from Victoria Row to Queen Street, with the goal of creating a more inviting entrance into the centre from Victoria Row.

Centre CEO Steve Bellamy noted that if the money from Ottawa and the province is not forthcoming, funding from the city will not be necessary.

Charlottetown Library Learning Centre, $1M

By many measures the new Charlottetown library is a great success, said library board member Shawn Murphy, but it has come at a cost.

The library has about 1,000 visitors a day, said Murphy, but its construction came in over budget, and the board was short on its fundraising goal.

The final cost was $17.5 million, $800,000 more than budgeted. With a $4-million fundraising goal, $3.4 million was raised.

To help make up this shortfall, the library board is asking for $1 million over two years.

Port Charlottetown, $118,836

Port Charlottetown is looking for a grant in lieu of its municipal property tax.

It is looking for this to be an annual grant.

Mike Cochrane, CEO of the Charlottetown Harbour Authority, said marine infrastructure is very expensive to maintain, and cruise ship traffic at the port continues to grow.

In addition to cruise ships, the port also maintains a pipeline to fill petroleum tanks on the shore from tanker ships in the harbour. This is how 98 per cent of P.E.I.'s petroleum products arrive in the province.

It also hosts ships bringing gravel and aggregate for road work, as well as fertilizer.

Tremploy, $50,000

Tremploy is a non-profit that provides training and employment assistance services to adults with intellectual disabilities.

Tremploy is currently located in a building on Raiders Road in Charlottetown. It has raised about three-quarters of a $1-million capital fundraising target to move to a new facility in the BioCommons Research Park.

It is looking for $50,000 from the city over the next five years.

Teresa Hennebery, volunteer chair of capital campaign, said the group arranges employment for 125 people, with 75 working at the Raiders Road building.

Hennebery said the current building dates from the 1960s and is not very accessible for people with mobility challenges. There are also occupational health and safety issues, such as not having a sprinkler system.