CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The owners of a Charlottetown apartment building hit by a devastating fire last month plan to rebuild the three-storey complex, possibly adding a fourth floor.
Dan Sampson, director of property management for Killam Apartment REIT, says demolition of The Harold on Harley Street will begin within the next couple of weeks.
He says the intent is to build the structure at least back to the way it was. However, the business is exploring the possibility of building a fourth floor.
Sampson estimates reconstruction will take eight months to one year.
On July 24, a blaze caused by mulch outside a ground-level apartment catching fire displaced 52 residents at The Harold.
Sampson says the former tenants have removed all salvageable items, which include keys and jewelry as well as larger items.
He says all those people will be offered the ability to move back in when the apartment building reopens.
“More than 50 per cent of those we have talked to want to return, but that may change,’’ says Sampson.
“The majority of people really enjoyed living here and there was a sense of community.’’
He adds only a couple of the people displaced by the fire have been able to move into other Killam properties.
He says all 1,200 Killam apartment units in the province are currently occupied.
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