PEI

Demolition work begins, clearing space for new student residence

Buildings have started coming down in Charlottetown in advance of the building of a new student residence for Holland College.

Demo work expected to take 2 weeks

Heavy equipment has been brought in for the demolition. (Tom Steepe/CBC)

Buildings have started coming down in Charlottetown in advance of the building of a new student residence for Holland College.

The $6.96-million residence, a four-storey building with 81 beds, will be built at the corner of Grafton and Cumberland streets.

Crews began to knock down this apartment building early Tuesday morning. (Tom Steepe/CBC)

Seven buildings will be demolished for the development, including low-income apartments, a Middle Eastern restaurant and an Asian grocery store.

This garage was no match for a backhoe as day one of demolition got underway. (Tom Steepe/CBC)

Some larges pieces of equipment have been brought in to take down businesses on Grafton Street.

The demolition will include businesses on Grafton Street... (Tom Steepe/CBC)

The demoliton work is expected to take about about two weeks to complete.

Justin Dunn, director of facilities management, watches as the last of this apartment building is demolished. (Tom Steepe/CBC)

Holland College said with a waiting list of 250 students for Glendenning Hall, a new residence is badly needed.

The entrance of a Holland College residence building.
Michael O'Grady, the college's vice-president responsible for innovation, enterprise and strategic development, said some students will be choosing not to attend Holland College this fall because of a lack of residence space at Glendenning Hall. (Tom Steepe/CBC)

The residence will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units, similar to school's existing residence. 

The new four-storey residence will have one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartment-style units. (Tom Steepe/CBC)

The new four-storey residence is scheduled to be completed by August, 2018.

This apartment building waits to be torn down to make way for a student residence. (Tom Steepe/CBC)