Engineering work is underway on much needed seawall repair by the Access P.E.I. building and Jubilee Theatre but plans to reclaim land in that area for parking spaces for the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club have been changed. Arnold Croken, president of the Summerside Regional Development Corporation, the group spearheading the project, said plans are moving ahead to repair the seawall and increase parking for the yacht club.

“This thing has been an ongoing process,” Croken said. “We’re in the final stages of putting the full project together to put to the funding partners.” Croken said the engineering work has already been done on the seawall repair.

The parking issue raised its head during the proposed $25-million redevelopment of the waterfront Mall by Oran Canada. A dispute arose over the loss of 100 parking spaces to the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club which delayed the mall project for over a year while debates were held on how to replace those spaces. The mall project is still stalled. Croken said as important as the seawall repair is, parking spaces are equally important for the yacht club.

“Whether the parking is needed or not for the expansion of the mall is one question,” Croken said. “The Silver Fox has very little parking of their own and they still want to create parking.”

He said some of the boaters were concerned about infilling the area at the rear of Access P.E.I. and the Jubilee Theatre for parking. Instead, the plan now calls for pushing out the armour stone on the south side of the Silver Fox to create parking along that edge.

“Originally, the parking was going to be right in the basin (at the rear of Access P.E.I.),” Croken said. “Now we simply plan to repair that wall.

(For the new parking) if you’re driving to the boat slip there is armour stone on the left hand side. What they’re proposing is to push that armour stone out and infill behind it and create the parking there.” Croken said work on the seawall will begin this winter.