Tourism & Motels & COMMUNITY BUILDINGS

Garden of the Gulf Motel, Summerside

In the fall of 1953 Keith and Jean were settling into life in a rented house at 333 Chestnut Avenue in Summerside.  Their three children were aged  5 years, 2 years  and the baby - just 6 months. Keith attended local Y’s Men’s service club meetings,  and both were active members of the Trinity United Church community and the Home and School Association, which fundraised for teachers and students. 

At the M. F. Schurman Company office, contractors and clients planned for a busy spring. The tourism industry on the Island was growing as more families from outside the region took holidays to enjoy PEI’s  beaches. While some visitors were campers with tents, sleeping bags and Coleman stoves, there was a growing demand for motel accommodation. Two individuals - Vaughan Groom of Summerside and Captain Carl Burke of Charlottetown – approached the M. F. Schurman Company to design and build motels.

So in 1953, Keith sat at his drafting table with pencil and tracing paper and started to dream up his first set of motel plans. Vaughn Groom’s motel would be sixteen units, and these seven pages of drawings are Keith’s oldest set of plans,  complete with its title block in the bottom right corner, hand-printed. What does a title block look like and what information does it contain?

The first page is the site plan, which shows the location and outline of the proposed motel on the property, including flower beds, existing buildings and a future office.

The next step in the design approval was to give the client a visual of how the proposed building would look on the property. This ‘perspective’ was a sketch showing the details of the finished brick and siding exterior of the motel, complete with landscaping, flowers and a parked car. Once the overall design was approved, the details of the building were drafted in ⅛” = 1.0”  scale. Imagine the math required! With a pencil and triangular ruler Keith spent hours drawing minute details and measurements of each section of the building - floor plan, elevations, roof, windows and doors - all the information the builders needed.

By mid-February the final plans were completed and agreed upon with Vaughan Groom.  When the ground thawed in the spring, the construction foreman and his team of bulldozer operators, carpenters, electricians and plumbers were able to start - with the goal of having everything ready for the tourist season.

It was a proud day for Keith and Jean when The Journal Pioneer published the photo and story of the motel on July 19, 1954 describing it as “new and modern, up-to-date in every detail and open for business and available to visitors all the year round.” 

The July 23, 1954 coverage in The Guardian highlighted the benefits to the business trade in Summerside and reported an interview with Mr. Groom who stated:

the quality of the work of the M. F. Schurman Company was outstanding and left nothing to be desired. He paid a marked tribute to the work of the architect, Mr. G. K. Pickard, (B. Arch.) (M.R.A.I.C.) and to Mr. Robert H. Rankin, superintendent in charge of construction, both of the firm of M. F. Schurman Co. Ltd….Today marks the official opening of the beautiful and luxurious Garden of the Gulf Motel - one of the finest in Eastern Canada – an event, historic in its significance to the business life of the Town of Summerside in that it transforms a dream into a reality and demonstrates the faith of its builder, Mr. Vaughan Groom, in the future of the tourist industry of this Province.

These newspaper articles on official openings often accompanied advertisements from the contractors and suppliers of materials and furnishings, which was an opportunity for these firms to showcase their businesses and services: George Smith, Plumbing and Heating; R.T. Holman’s Ltd.– modern and luxurious interior furnishings, Brace MacKay, Co. Ltd. – curtains, chairs, White Star Laundry – maintaining the cleanliness. 

With the hotel business on PEI in its infancy, “beautiful” and “luxurious” seem to be the only words adequate to describe this modern “home away from home”, which combined all the comforts of home with the luxury of a deluxe hotel. Guests must have been delighted! The article continued: 

Situated on the main highway leading into Summerside, it overlooked the tranquil, landlocked harbor with its safe swimming facilities and is only a short distance from the beach and within easy shopping distance of all Summerside stores.

With Keith’s first major project reviewed and celebrated by the media, he was already working on plans for Captain Carl Burke’s new 19-unit motel and lounge, The Kirkwood, on University Avenue in Charlottetown.  

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Tourism Buildings 

The Rodd Charlottetown Hotel

The Rodd Royalty  located on the Trans Canada Highway - Capital Drive, Charlottetown)

Brackley Beach Community Centre was built in1982-83

Transition from One-Room School to Community Centre

Classes were held in the one-room Brackley Point School until 1973 when many small schools consolidated. Following the decision to close the school, the Women’s Institute initiated meetings with Department of Education representatives and discussed the possibility of purchasing the school for use as a community building….Improvements were made to the school between 1974 and 1981 but there were many limitations such as kitchen facilities and flush toilets…

Rena and Fred Hughes, Thelma and David Seaman, Eleanor and Gerald Robinson and Virden and Evan Robinson are people of vision who saw the need for a modern building and were leaders in seeking community support for this project.

The dream needed shape, and the next challenge involved plans and estimated costs. The community has a family connection to Charlottetown architect, G. Keith Pickard, through Ellen and Barry Cudmore. He agreed to attend a meeting to discuss what practical changes could be made to reflect the residents' needs and the intended uses of the building. He suggested that a new section be built to adjoin the existing school which could be renovated by adding a kitchen and basement. Constructing a new building side by side with a sixty year old school which needed to be lifted and kept suspended while a foundation was excavated and poured was no small challenge! However, this would allow for the preservation of the one-room school built in 1919 along with its battleship linoleum, high ceilings and windows. The residents agreed with the recommendations and the plans were drawn by R. Peake.

There was great concern about how the money would be raised and the potential debt. After many discussions, proposals and negotiations by Gerald Robinson, a Canada Community Development Project (CCDP) grant was obtained through Employment and Immigration Canada which was to be matched by money raised by the residents. The CCDP grant totalled $32,978. Between 1982 and 1985 the community raised over $25,000 for construction costs through fundraising and donations. Volunteer work and in-kind donations gave momentum to this tremendous undertaking while private donations were received from Bayview Construction, Gerald and Eleanor Robinson, Fred and Rena Hughes, David and Thelma Seaman, Virden and Eva Robinson and Rae Gilman. The workcrew consisted of Fred MacRae, Joseph Myers, Glen MacAusland, David Dougan, Terry Albert and Calvin Gunter.

Phase I of the project, the new building measuring 30'x 60' complete with full foundation, started in February 1982 and ended in July 1982. Phase II began in the fall of 1982; the school was raised, placed on a new foundation and a new section was built onto the east side to provide a modern kitchen and washrooms. Many hours of volunteer labour and materials were contributed by residents as the interior was finished and painted, window draperies sewn, kitchen cupboards built, flooring installed, tables built and chairs purchased. Outside the improvements included a new fence, grass, shrubbery, a sidewalk, steps and, always, painting.

Projects were devised to raise funds. The community fundraising activities included:

a huge auction sale featuring wooden swings, tables and chairs;   Christmas bazaar and luncheon;  Las Vegas and Casino Nights at Vacationland and the Centre;

New Year's Eve, Easter and Canada Day dances; lobster dinner; weekly card parties; three wedding receptions, an anniversary celebration; and canteens at David and Thelma Seaman's sale and the Brackley Beach Lodge sale. 

Two fall woodcutting bees involved a great number of people. A crew cut dry wood donated by Virden and Eva Robinson from their property at Vacationland. Two rigs were used to haul the logs to the Community Centre where they were sawed, blocked and then loaded into trucks. At the middle of each event, all the workers sat down to a hot dinner prepared by the women.

Throughout this project Rena Hughes and Thelma Seaman (often referred to as Mary and Martha) very capably and conscientiously handled the finances including tracking the work hours, calculating deductions and writing cheques. In addition there were the orders and invoices from suppliers and contractors and countless decisions to make as the dream became a reality.

Today people move from one part of the Community Centre to the other, never thinking that one is old and the other new. This true example of seamless transition also reflects the essence of the Women's Institute as generations work side by side, each retaining her identity but working together as one. It is a considerable achievement to have these two buildings become one community centre. It is an equal achievement to have the continuity of generations of women working together and involving all community members.

Official Opening of Community Centre, July 1983

A special Canada Day program and celebration was held in 1983 to mark the official opening of the Brackley Beach Community Centre. Mel Gass, Member of Parliament for our district of Malpeque, performed the ribbon cutting ceremony. Red maple trees were planted and birthday cake and ice cream were served.

  Excerpt from Brackley Beach Women's Institute - Working Together 'For Home and Country'  pages 45, 46, 47.

The Harbourfront Jubilee Theatre, Summerside, October 1995

Harbourfront Theatre – Jubilee opened July 10, 1996

It began with a group of Summerside citizens who had a vision to create a state of the art performing arts facility for Prince County. Years of tireless planning and fundraising ensued. The non-profit Regional Cultural Events Centre Inc. was formed to administer fundraising, and The Summerside Regional Development Corporation would be the body to construct and operate the Wyatt Centre which would house, along with the pre-existing Eptek Centre and the PEI Sports Hall of Fame, a 520 seat theatre. Generous support was garnered from government, the business community, and many private citizens. The major contributor, after whom the building was named, was The Wyatt Foundation, representing well-known Summerside citizen and patron of the arts, Dr. Wanda Wyatt. The foundation made an initial donation of $500,000 and matched subsequent contributions to the tune of an additional half million dollars.  More than a decade from its inception, the vision became reality on July 10, 1996 as the curtain rose on opening night of Jamboree – A Maritime Musical Revue (written by Jamie Bradley). Harbourfront Jubilee Theatre was born.  

Source: text from a Harbourfront Jubilee Theatre brochure