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CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Beth Arsenault is caught between a development rock and a heritage hard place. 

Arsenault owns Blank Canvas Art Supplies at 10 Prince St. in Charlottetown. After signing a two-year lease and opening the shop in July, she found out in August that her business’ new home was up for demolition. 

She heard about the news from a follower on Instagram, who messaged her around midnight one-day last month after the demolition application came up at an Aug. 28 heritage board meeting.

Before that message, Arsenault thought she had found relief from the challenge of looking for a suitable location. 

“Now I’m just in panic mode again. And I have customers coming in, and they’re like, ‘Are you closing?’ and it just brings it back up again every day,” she said in a Sept. 28 SaltWire interview. 

“I’m trying to establish myself, so even all my business cards and all my flyers and everything have the address on it.”

When Arsenault first went looking for a site, she had to settle on a place that was a bit too big and not ideal for foot traffic. On the upside, the extra space allowed her to set up a rentable gallery area in the front of the store for local artists to sell their work and a workshop area in the back for other rentals. 

This is Arsenault’s first time running a business and she has invested years of savings and loans into the project, she said. 

Now, she’s back to searching for a new location and unsure about what kind of space she’ll have in the future or how much it may cost to move and potentially lose work days, she said. 

“I would definitely be in a jam for sure (if I have to move). I’m not sure how … I can survive for a couple months, but no more than that.”

Heritage board

Arsenault, though, might be getting another couple of months to look for a potential new location. 

Charlottetown’s heritage board voted 5-1 on Sept. 25 to send a staff recommendation to council calling for a 45-day temporary heritage designation for 10 Prince St. While the building was previously given a mid-level grade for potential heritage property — scoring 63 — staff want to look at the location again to make sure the city doesn’t demolish a structure with heritage value, said heritage officer Todd Saunders at the meeting. 

The date the structure was built is not certain but estimated around 1900, based on historical maps of the city. The architecture is not elaborate, but has heritage value in the scalloped shingles and stained glass window, Saunders said. 

City planner Laurel Palmer Thompson said the heritage score of 63 breaks down to include a very high rating for how the building fits the overall streetscape, which includes the Water Prince Corner Shop and Founders Hall on opposing corners. 

The developer’s plan is to demolish the building and build a three-storey, mixed-use building. 

Vote

Coun. Julie McCabe voted against the recommendation, saying that, when the developer bought the building in 2015, he asked about heritage designation and was told the work had been done. 

“(He) proceeded to purchase the property with the understanding there were no roadblocks that he was going to face in the process.”

In 2018, council amended the heritage bylaw and staff can now recommend a temporary designation to do an investigation. This Prince Street location is the first time staff have done this, Deputy Mayor Alanna Jankov said.

A Change.org petition to stop the demolition at 10 Prince. St. has gathered 362 signatures. 

The petition argues demolishing and rebuilding is environmentally harmful while suggesting the proposed development does not follow policies for the 500 lots. 

The next regular city council meeting, which votes on resolutions from boards and committees, is Oct. 9.

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Logan MacLean is a municipal reporter with SaltWire in Prince Edward Island. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and followed on X @loganmaclean94.