Building abandoned
Forward Summerside members abandon office after mould dispute boils over
The initiative abandoned its chosen home at 201 Water St. in the fall due to staff health concerns. Forward Summerside was supposed to pull six local economically-focused organizations under one roof to act as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for anyone looking to do business in Summerside.
SUMMERSIDE – Forward Summerside is homeless.
The initiative abandoned its chosen home at 201 Water St. in the fall due to staff health concerns.
Forward Summerside was supposed to pull six local economically-focused organizations under one roof to act as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for anyone looking to do business in Summerside.
The Greater Summerside Chamber of Commerce spearheaded the initiative. Outgoing chamber president, Thane Smallwood, brought the membership up to speed on the situation at its annual general meeting on Feb. 27.
Smallwood said staff working in the building started to experience health issues in
June and July of 2019, about four months after they moved into the building. An environmental assessment, conducted by ALL-TECH Environmental Services Ltd., followed and connected the health problems with mould in two locations in the building.
The chamber and its partners abandoned the space shortly thereafter, saying they could not work out a deal with the building’s owner to sufficiently remediate the mould issue.
“That decision effectively backed us away from the infrastructure of Forward Summerside,” said Smallwood.
“After evaluating all the different options that were provided through the lease agreement, I believe we made the right decision to exit that building and exit the relationship.”
It was also revealed that the chamber lost about $30,000 in the dispute; about $20,000 related to leasehold improvements and another $10,000 for the environmental assessment and to move its offices and staff out of the building.
The chamber was not alone in contributing financially to the project. Island taxpayers provided $20,000 towards the renovations and put up $12,000 to help with the first year’s rent. The City of Summerside also contributed about $6,600 towards the project.
The owner of the building, Yubo Zhou, disputes many of ALL-TECH’s findings and contends that the remediation efforts he undertook in the building were sufficient to eliminate the mould issue.
ALL-TECH recommended some potentially expensive and destructive remediation efforts, said Zhou, and, after consulting with a local disaster cleanup company, he does not agree they are warranted.
“I think they have been unfair to me and made a lot of unreasonable requests,” said Zhou, of the chamber.
When the Forward Summerside building opened there were six organizations involved. The chamber and the city were the primary leaseholders and the other organizations sublet space from them.
The groups occupying 201 Water St. were originally supposed to consist of the chamber, P.E.I. Connectors, the city’s Department of Economic Development, Innovation P.E.I., Downtown Summerside Inc. and Explore Summerside; though Downtown Summerside Inc. ended up leaving shortly after the Forward Summerside building opened as it required more space than was available in that building.
Because it was the primary leaseholder, once the chamber decided to walk away from the building the other organizations vacated as well.
Despite the loss of their shared space, Smallwood stressed that Forward Summerside is not dead.
“That Forward Summerside concept and vision is about organizations and people, it’s not necessarily about buildings,” he said.
That sentiment was mirrored by incoming chamber president, Pam Sch ur man Montgomery.
The Forward Summerside organizations, as a group, intend to continue to work together as much as possible, she said, and they will be meeting soon to decide their next steps.
“Often with collaborative groups and initiatives a lot of the focus remains on the easy parts, like the physical infrastructure – but Forward Summerside is a little more than that ,” said Sch ur man Montgomery.
“The initiative itself was driven by the membership of the organizations that are collaborating. That intent still exists regardless of whether we are sharing the same physical space or not.”