CARDIGAN, P.E.I. — Ann Shepherd was headed home from work when she saw it.
"It just seemed to appear."
A building with walls about 10-feet tall and a high-pitch roof was suddenly sitting between the Cardigan marina and Water Street. Its purpose is to store kayaks – about 15 – to allow more people to take advantage of the community's waterfront.
Shepherd, who lives not far down the road, likes the idea.
However, she was one of about 20 people who met there to protest it on June 4 because of its look and affect on the waterfront.
"I just think it's in the wrong area," she said.
"(I'm) not pleased with it."
Robert Lethbridge lives even closer to what he referred to as an "eyesore".
"It's right at the end of my driveway," he said.
According to Lethbridge, the building went up without much warning or communication in April.
He said its design doesn't take the area into account as it's larger than necessary and its roof protrudes up higher than the road, blocking his view.
"I don't necessarily think it was a bad idea," he said.
"I just think the execution left something to be desired."
AT A GLANCE:
- In 2019, a canoe and kayak building in Cardigan was slotted on Three Rivers' first capital budget at a cost of $20,000.
- According to the municipality's five-year capital budget effective April 2020, the cost of the building more than doubled to about $42,000.
Herman Van Den Broek and Maxine MacLennan, both former councillors of Cardigan who attended the meeting, said the project dates back to before the amalgamation of Three Rivers in 2018, which saw Cardigan and neighbouring communities become grouped into a single municipality with its own council.
During the transition, Cardigan's council had some projects, such as this building, that were shelved due to insufficient funding.
When the Three Rivers council formed, it had a lot on its plate to start tackling, MacLennan said.
"We were just asked to forward the list of what we were working on."
Once Cardigan's council had dissolved, its councillors figured there would be conversations with the new municipality's council to bring it up to speed on what Cardigan had planned.
"We were kind of waiting for them to reach out to us. But that never happened."
- Herman Van Den Broek
"We were kind of waiting for them to reach out to us," Van Den Broek said.
"But that never happened."
Because of the lack of communication, Three Rivers suddenly constructing the building in Cardigan this spring came as a shock for some.
"Nothing like what we designed," Van Den Broek said.
"Not going to lie I was a little surprised," MacLennan said.
Both agreed that they could have done more to touch base with Three Rivers council.
"It goes both ways," MacLennan said.
Three Rivers' mayor Edward MacAulay also attended the meeting along with a few councillors.
He wishes there had been more meetings like this one following amalgamation, he said.
"That's something I wanted to do."
He acknowledged that many Three Rivers residents may still have strong feelings surrounding the decision to amalgamate but wants to continue working toward unifying and bettering communication with each community.
He's open to doing something about the building, which is still under construction, such as moving it somewhere else along the river.
But he wants to first ensure that the decision is a consensus across Cardigan rather than at the request of a few.
"Is this something that everybody wants?" he asked at the meeting.
Daniel Brown is a local journalism initiative reporter, a position funded by the federal government.
