The new vision for a former gas station in downtown Charlottetown is starting to take shape, and plans are to have it finished later this year.

Mayor Philip Brown said work on the building is a four-R program: “Rescue, restoration, reconstruction, renovation.”

The site at 85 Euston St. has sat idle since a car rental company at the location closed at some point after the gas pumps were taken out in 2008. It was donated to the city by Irving Oil Limited last June, but the mayor said planning started in 2021 with discussions about what could be done with the building.

The end result will be what the city is calling an “innovation hub.”

Brown said two Level 3 electric vehicle charging stations — the fastest ones currently available — will be installed. Beautification is also planned for the property. He said the building will include office space and an open areas for community meetings.

“I think in the end, what you’ll see is a restored, reconstructed historic site in the City of Charlottetown,” he said.

“My hope is that this will have a ripple effect throughout the community. This will be a beacon that will hopefully encourage other owners and developers to reconstruct, renovate the buildings in this area.” 

The mayor said construction started back in November with a goal of finishing up around around August or September.

He said the total cost of the work — which is being shared between the city and the federal and provincial governments — will be around $2.8 million.

Built in the 1930s, the site was named as one of Canada’s Historic Places in 2009, meaning it can’t be torn down. It includes a distinctive gable roof and two bay doors that were typical of Irving gas stations of that time period.  

He said Irving did “a very exhaustive environmental assessment,” while the city also did its own. Neither found issues with fossil fuel seepage, he said.

Inside the building, crews discovered some fire damage that they didn’t know about until interior walls were torn back.

Construction work that’s been completed so far includes:

• Demolition of the interior of the building.
• Foundations for expansion.
• Reframing and expansion of bays.
• New roof trusses.

Brown said a tender for installation of solar panels closes March 30, while additional work will include a concrete floor stretching from the old bay into the new section.

Concrete walkways, greenery and picnic tables will later be installed outside.

“Now we have a facility that will allow community groups, individuals to come together,” Brown said. “We’re going to see a place I will be proud of and I’m sure Charlottetown will be proud of.”