PEIThe Calvary Church in Charlottetown has decided to rebuild. The building was believed to be beyond repair after post-tropical storm Fiona, and the church had announced it was going to turn the property into apartments.The P.E.I. church had previously hoped to build 400 apartments on the propertyRyan McKellop · CBC News · Posted: Sep 17, 2025 2:19 PM EDT | Last Updated: September 17The Calvary Church, seen in this 2022 file photo, sustained ‘catastrophic’ damage from post-tropical storm Fiona. (Tony Davis/CBC)The Calvary Church in Charlottetown has shelved plans to turn its property into apartments, deciding to rebuild instead. Lead pastor Matthew Moss said the building, located on Capital Drive, sustained “catastrophic” damages when Fiona struck the Island on Sept. 24, 2022.He said that left the congregation of about 280 people with a handful of options to consider for the future of the property.”We took a vote on four viable options for our future, one of which was the residential development that had been proposed a number of years ago,” Moss said.The other options were to sell the property and relocate to another part of Charlottetown, to tear down the existing building and rebuild on the site, or to repair and renovate. “The congregation voted almost unanimously on the fourth option,” Moss said. Moss said that doesn’t mean a future housing development is off the table.”The congregation realized that maybe… we’re not ready for this year, and it may be something that happens in a decade’s time,” he said.The proposed development was from a Toronto-based development group called BGI Group, and would have created 400 apartment units on the property. The proposed development that was to be built on the site of the Calvary Church on Capital Drive is pictured above. It included two high rise apartment buildings, a clinic, and a church. (BGI/Google Maps)”I think there was this idea that, you know, a Toronto developer would come in and do it all and then hand over the keys, and we just start generating revenue and funding charities and meeting community needs,” Moss said. “And when we really did the research, we discovered that that may not be what happens.”Moss said the developer has left the door open. “He understands the mission of our church, and certainly wished us all the best.” Delayed repairsThe church received an insurance settlement of $3.2 million, which will be used to pay for the renovations. Moss said there will also be a fundraising campaign, with a goal of raising an additional $150,000 over the next 14 months.The hope, Moss said, is that between the settlement and the fundraiser, the renovations won’t incur debt. He said that construction costs, in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, played a part in delaying the repairs. “When Fiona happened, there was a labour shortage in the Maritimes… construction costs were high, demand was high,” he said.”The amount of money that we were awarded from our insurance settlement, we believed it wouldn’t be possible to repair [the church] for that price based on the cost of labour and construction materials.”A modern spaceMoss said that the current building dates back to the early 1980s, and this is an opportunity to modernize.”I think construction was completed in early 1980-81 so, you know, it was built to serve [the] church’s needs from a completely different era.”A photo taken from the inside of the Calvary Church, which is currently undergoing major renovations and repairs following damage caused by post-tropical storm Fiona. (Submitted by Matthew Moss)He said the layout will mostly remain the same, but the upstairs level will have new office areas, a café, a larger auditorium, a more functional stage and lighting system, and a conference space.He said there will also be more accessible childcare spaces created. The building’s roof has been repaired, but Moss said the church is still a ways away from reopening.ABOUT THE AUTHORRyan McKellop is a graduate of the Holland College Journalism program and a web writer at CBC P.E.I.With files from Jackie Sharkey
Charlottetown’s Calvary Church votes to repair damaged church, rather than redevelop
