Fiefdoms run by political, lifetime, patronage-appointed boards; beneath radar of public

Founders' Hall on the Charlottetown waterfront with the outdoor skating rink located in front. (Guardian File Photo)

BY KIRSTEN CONNOR

GUEST OPINION published by The Guardian March 21, 2018

Founders’ Hall is like a cat with nine lives as far as it affects taxpayers.

Various public entities appear to be playing musical chairs in their involvement in this previously public-owned heritage property.

These entities are quasi-government agencies, boards, authorities, corporation, whatever their names, created for political convenience. Many appear to be like little fiefdoms run by political, lifetime, patronage-appointed boards; staff, operating with taxpayers’ money, and beneath the radar of public scrutiny.

To recap the history of Founders’ Hall:

Canadian National Railroad built it. When redundant for its original use, it became the property of the provincial government.

Various uses were proposed such as a provincial museum or a farmers’ market. All were rejected and part of it became the home of the Tourist Information Centre.

A gruesome amount of money was then poured into the hare-brained idea of creating a museum with entrance fees, that imitated the real thing, available for free at Province House, just a few blocks away.

Ironically, they closed it, just as restoration brought visitation to Province House to a halt, and when that substitute could have given some pleasure to so many disappointed tourists.

In 2016 with the museum closed and in an expensive experiment, the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) was reborn and twinned with an alcohol sales venue in the tiny adjacent stone house.

This left Founders’ Hall mostly empty save for a few offices, and a sign on the door directing tourists to the stone house across the lot.

Last year saw the TIC moved back to Founders’ Hall and all traces of the museum gone - gone where? Nobody knows.

The owner of the building, Charlottetown Development Corporation, then sold the building and land to a private developer for a reported $3.35 M, (is the province holding the mortgage?) who immediately announced great plans for an artisan market for the vast area not leased by the government for the TIC. This, in competition with the well-established vendors in the cruise ship arrival terminal?

In January 2018, the City of Charlottetown announced the purchase of a land portion of the property for $1.25 M from the developer, amidst comments that had CADC sold it directly to the city, the taxpayers could have saved almost half the purchase price.

Roll forward to March 2018 and we learn that not the developer, but a public agency, the Port Authority is 'gauging different levels of interest' in space for an urban market, and has, before completing 'the gauging,’ already signed a two-year lease from March 2018, details of which of course are unknown.

do not know the amount of the lease. We do not know if it is for the bare hall with the cost of shelves and other furnishing to be borne by the Port Authority, in which case two years would hardly make a dent in recovering the cost.

There appears to be no business plan in place and rent is being paid while research (gauging) into sales space demands, and prospective numbers and kinds of vendors is being conducted.

What if there is no or only scant demand for space? Is the lease/rent adjustable, if this venture is only feasible during the summer months? A two-year lease is hardly long enough to develop a market presence in the community.

This is a rather unorthodox way of doing business, but perhaps it is not to be regarded as a business venture at all, but rather as a simple good will gesture between friends. How are we to know?

The announced lease arrangement between the Port Authority and the developer is obviously not based on a normal business decision.

It would be in the interest of all parties involved to have an investigation to clear the air, and to establish if this is a profitable venture or a form of bail-out or subsidy at the taxpayers’ expense.

The frosting on the cake for taxpayers, and to come full circle, would be if CADC bought back Founders’ Hall for $10 M and established a provincial museum there. The irony would be almost unbearable.

- Kirsten Connor was chair of the City of Charlottetown’s Heritage Review Board from 1979 to 1986

EDITORIAL: Paving paradise

Published originally by The Guardian - April 19, 2017

The Brighton Road site of the old Prince Edward Island Hospital, Prince Edward Home and palliative care unit, is slated for demolition in Charlottetown.

"There is speculation the site is being considered for a provincial museum "

Victoria Park in Charlottetown has been under tremendous pressure from development almost since the day it was created.  

The original 100-acre site was established in 1789 for the administration of the colony – primarily as a residence of the governor.
Over the following 228 years, the face of the park changed dramatically as green space was designated for recreational, institutional or commercial use.
A city – especially the Birthplace of Confederation – can never have enough green space. Charlottetown must make every effort to retain what’s left of the crown jewel of Victoria Park.
Future generations will benefit and be thankful.
Attention is focused recently on the former P.E.I. Hospital, and later the Prince Edward Home and palliative care centre. The building is empty and slated for demolition. The province is hesitating to declare the building surplus, because when it does, it will set in motion a final determination for the site.
Time is running out.
Several groups have their own narrow plans if they can obtain access or ownership. One hideous option is expansion of parking for public servants working in nearby provincial government buildings.
There is speculation the site is being considered for a provincial museum when other options are more appropriate. Developers are slavering at the prospect of commercial enterprises if the opportunity ever arose.
The city has the right idea. It wants no development, preferring the site revert to green space. That was the intent of legislation, which vested the property for a hospital in 1931 and for expansion of that facility in 1955.
Mayor Clifford Lee supports a memorial garden “to commemorate what that property was used for.’’ Many people spent their final days in the hospital, nursing home and palliative care. A memorial would be appropriate.
It’s essential to protect what’s left of Victoria Park. Access and service roads opened it up for heavy use. The park has seen the construction of ball fields, canteens, tennis courts, clubhouses, public swimming pool, playground and a skateboard park. 
Enough is enough.
The park was intended as a place for “retreat from the heat, filth and dust of the city.” In 1873, just days before the colony officially became a province, the governor vested a majority of Victoria Park to the city for all citizens “as a park, promenade and pleasure ground . . . On no condition may it be used for circuses, shows or exhibitions of any kind.”
The remaining 30 acres or so stayed with the province for a residence, gardens and grounds for Government House. The area has historical significance to province and country. The Fathers of Confederation gathered there for a famous photo and likely strolled the grounds now occupied by the former hospital. Countless royalty did the same.
The 1955 legislation stated “ . . . no part of the lands . . . shall henceforth be used otherwise than for hospital use.”
This is a chance to regain a portion of what was lost.
The province and city must ensure this will happen.

EDITORIAL: Betty Howatt leaves lasting legacy

As published in The Guardian Dec 13, 2017

This photo of Betty and Everett Howatt was taken in 2013. (Doug Sobey Photo) - The Guardian

 If ever a provincial museum should become a reality, the name of Betty Howatt should adorn the main entryway. Islanders owe her that and so much more.

A staunch and unfailing defender of rural P.E.I. died last Friday in Summerside

Tuesday, in Tryon People’s Cemetery, a grand lady of Prince Edward Island was laid to rest. Betty Zelda (nee King) Howatt, a staunch and unfailing defender of rural P.E.I., died last Friday in Summerside. Her obituary was short and unassuming, omitting details of the immense impact she had on this province throughout her 88 years.

Her numerous honours and achievements were not included in that simple death notice. It was typical of Howatt, who placed family, community and province ahead of self. While many Islanders are familiar with them, they certainly deserve mention again.

Howatt was a wonderful connection to the pastoral, unhurried province of yesteryear. It was almost as if she tried to recreate the romantic view of L.M. Montgomery’s fictional Avonlea at her beloved Willowshade Farm, where for 50 years she and her husband Everett operated a mixed fruit operation within sight and sound of the Northumberland Strait. Together, they ran the 75-acre farm that has been in Everett's family since 1783.

Howatt came to prominence in 1973, the Island's centennial year, when she helped form The Brothers and Sisters of Cornelius Howatt to counter a philosophy of "selling the province at any price." The Tryon farmhouse was the birthplace of Cornelius Howatt - Everett's great-great uncle and one of only two members of the Island legislature to vote against joining Canada in 1873.

Betty embraced change for the better, but that often meant she clashed with decision-makers when she thought the ‘Island way of life’ was under threat or things were going too far, too fast.

A well-known author and storyteller, she entertained Islanders with her popular and long-running weekly segment on CBC Radio’s MainStreet – Tales From Willowshade Farm where she provided weekly lessons on Island plants and wildlife. She also turned those snippets of country living into a book by the same title.

For many years, she was a loyal contributor to the Voice For Island Seniors. Her final submission, which appeared just last week in a Guardian insert, was timely and on topic, entitled ‘A Christmas Concert.’ Early in her career, she taught in rural schools of P.E.I. where the teacher’s reputation hinged on two things – keeping order in a one-room schoolhouse, and organizing a memorable Christmas concert. Her story of staging a Christmas concert more than 60 years ago was both vintage whimsy and humorous.

Her opinions were well known and she wasn’t hesitant about sharing them. At many key meetings where important decisions were being discussed, she was there to passionately defend her point of view.

She waged a 10-year campaign against the construction of the Confederation Bridge, fearing it would unleash a tide of development, which would forever negatively change the face of the province she loved. A founding chairman of the anti-link Friends of the Island, she took a leading role at public meetings during the plebiscite campaign. Even after the Yes side won, the Friends waged a legal battle against the bridge, winning a federal court ruling about an insufficient environmental review.

The outspoken activist on behalf of Island heritage was also an early champion of P.E.I.s environmental and agricultural heritage, promoting land stewardship, protecting our water and supporting the importance of farming to the Island’s economy and way of life.

An active public speaker and volunteer, Howatt also served with many local and national organizations. She was presented with the prestigious Award of Honour from the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation for contributions in raising awareness of Island heritage and for her work on the foundation’s board for 12 years. She was among the inaugural six recipients of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medals for her community work, an honour later recognized on the floor of the Canadian Senate.

Howatt supported a P.E.I. heritage museum to preserve the stories of the Island. She said, “There are too many people who are just in the here and now and they forget what has come before.”

Now she is at rest close to her beloved Willowshade Farm. A pillar of Island society is gone but not forgotten. If ever a provincial museum should become a reality, the name of Betty Howatt should adorn the main entryway. Islanders owe her that and so much more.

- "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith." (Timothy)