Confederation Centre gets $47M to renovate former library space

The former library inside Charlottetown's Confederation Centre of the Arts will soon be used for something new thanks to provincial and federal funding announced Wednesday.

The library closed in 2022 after 57 years and moved into a 40,000 square foot space in the Dominion Building, across from the Confederation Centre on Queen Street.  

The Confederation Centre held public consultations over the last few years on the future of the space, and the public got its first glimpse of what it will become on Wednesday.  

The funding will be used to create the National Cultural Leadership Institute, with P.E.I. Premier Dennis King committing $20 million in provincial money to the project. 

"It's not just about remaking and reshaping and remodelling the building itself, but what it does as an anchor for Charlottetown," King said.

The federal government is also committing $25 million through Infrastructure Canada's Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program.

It's also received an additional $2.4 million through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency's (ACOA) Innovative Communities Fund.

Confederation Centre CEO Steve Bellamy has also spent a lot of time thinking about what it could look like.

"It's important that these buildings are maintained and renovated and rejuvenated to serve everybody," Bellamy said.

Will cut energy consumption in half

The design work is being done by Abbott Brown Architects, and the centre itself will need to raise an additional $16.5 million in donations to round out the $65 million needed for the project.

Take a look at the vision for Charlottetown's Confed Centre

9 months ago

Duration 3:17

The federal and provincial governments have announced $47 million for green renovations at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown. CEO Steve Bellamy explains how the new space will look and what it means for the province.

The centre gets over a quarter-million visitors each year, and Bellamy said the funding will also have an impact on the wider community. 

"Those investments literally flow through it into the economy, into the community," he said. "So the cultural benefits are enormous, but the economic benefits are enormous for a place like this."

The money will be earmarked for green renovations, like upgrading heating and air conditioning, replacing windows and adding solar panels. The news release from Infrastructure Canada said the improvements should reduce the facility's energy consumption by 68.8 per cent, and greenhouse gas emissions by 286 tonnes each year.

Inside, the space will become three things: an arts academy, an arts innovation hub, and a cultural learning space for discussion around reconciliation and the country's growth.

The accessibility of the building will also change, with a street-level entrance being added on Victoria Row. Bellamy said the building will also become more open-concept.

"It'll be not unlike the library where there will be separate rooms with things going on, but also lots of shared central space, lots of visibility and openness," he said. "So it'll have that simultaneous feeling that there's a lot going on in different spaces, but at the same time that you're here with a lot of people."

More than just Anne

The renovations are expected to begin in October and be completed in spring 2026.

Charlottetown MP Sean Casey said he's extremely confident that the spending will be worth it in the end.

"The perception is that what happens here is Anne of Green Gables. In fact, it's a lot more than that, an awful lot more than that," he said. "It's a space where community gathers. It's a space where the stories of our country are told. It's a space where young people learn the importance of culture and the performing arts and our history."

Casey said there were a few reasons why the former library needed this investment. The building was showing its age, but there was also a need to evolve as the story of Confederation evolves.

"It's a recognition that the building needs to be onside with the environmental priorities of the country," he said. "And it needs to be alongside with where we are as a nation in our relationship with reconciliation, in our inclusiveness."

P.E.I.'s minister of transportation and infrastructure, Ernie Hudson, said the investment will not only benefit the Confederation Centre, but also make it more accessible.

"Ones [who] may have physical challenges as far as mobility, that may have sight impairment ... they will be able to enjoy what is taking place here," he said. "Just to improve the experience for everybody."

For Bellamy, even though the Confederation Centre was built to mark the 100th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference, it's important that the building evolves as Canada does.

"The learning we're doing as a country — and particularly the steps on truth and reconciliation — have helped us understand better that there are steps we can take to convert these institutions to serve even more people."