Busy Charlottetown intersection goes from burgers to subs to pizza

Longtime residents of Charlottetown will remember it as an A&W where the servers on roller skates delivered burgers and root beer right to their car.

For more than 20 years afterward, it was a Subway, in recent years with a Mary Brown's fried chicken restaurant tucked in the back.

Now, the building at one of the busiest intersections in Charlottetown University and Belvedere avenues is about to be demolished to make way for a pizza joint.

Owner Irwin Dawson said it was time for a change.

"We're very excited," he said. "I mean, COVID-19, that's put a damper on everything but I'm very excited to open a new business on P.E.I."

The new business will be Blaze Pizza, a franchise that specializes in fast-fired custom-built pizzas that are made in front of the customer.

Dawson said the new building will be further back on the property in order to maximize parking. The entrance will still be off University Avenue.

A new 260-bed residence at UPEI is currently under construction directly beside it.

Dawson, who grew up in Clyde River and studied at UPEI, still owns a few P.E.I. locations of Subway, which has been an active supporter of the university as well as youth soccer on the Island.

He hopes to have the Blaze Pizza up and running by Christmas, and if all goes well, add a few more across the Atlantic provinces.

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