Cannabis store construction underway in O'Leary

The province'scannabis retail outlet in O'Leary, P.E.I., is now under construction.

The only store planned for West Prince, it will be located on Main Street next to the old Home Hardware.

The construction will take about six weeks andcost more than $300,000, says O'Leary Mayor Eric Gavin.

"They've already dug out the topsoil and put the shale in for a harder base for this store to sit on, and the parking lot," Gavin said.

'It all helps this town'

The outlet will bring economic benefits to the town throughjobs and customers, Gavin said.

"If you're coming in here and you stop at the Co-Op and buy a quart of milk, or stop at the service station and get some gas, it all helps this town, right?"

The store will create eight or nine jobs and will be between 1,250 and 1,400 square feet, the mayor said.

Feedback from residents has been mostly positive, Gavin said.

'People are very happy with it'

"I think once you try to explain to them that there's rules to this and it's going to help the economy in here, people are very happy with it."

The cannabis store was originally going to be part of a proposed 18,000 square-foot strip mall. But the main tenant, which would have taken up more thanhalf the building, decided it wasn't feasible for them.

Then the town decided to build a smaller 10,000 square-foot facility which would include a dollar store and a smaller space for rent, along with the cannabis shop. But thenthe other tenant backed out.

"Without both of those signed leases, there's no way in the world this town could afford to build this. We didn't want to put the residents of the town of O'Leary in that debt," Gavin said. So the town decided to build a stand-alone store.

Gavin said he thinks the RCMP will do a good job enforcing the new rules around cannabis, which will be legal on Oct. 17.

"They're not going to let everybody and their dog just smoke it on the sidewalk."

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