[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by MonctonDowntown

One of the best development news I've heard in the last year.

Indeed.

Moncton has a small clutch of Gothic revival masterpieces in the downtown (notably Moncton High School, Castle Manor, St. Bernard's Church and rectory). They really add to the character of the city in an outsized manner. They all need to be cherished and protected.

[AGGUS]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Development company agrees to repair historic property by end of year
Author of the articleayge Woodard
Published Nov 04, 2025 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 2 minute read
https://tj.news/moncton-miramichi/develo...-repair-historic-property-by-end-of-year (paywall)




The tower of the rectory will be reassembled as part of the reconstruction work. A good news story.

A throwaway found in the article:

One has to wonder if a 85 unit condo could co exist on Marsh with some of the park in place, or is this part of a plan to close out this area and change it completely?

Forgive me if discussed before, have not seen anything on this before now

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by AGGUS

One has to wonder if a 85 unit condo could co exist on Marsh with some of the park in place, or is this part of a plan to close out this area and change it completely?

Forgive me if discussed before, have not seen anything on this before now

This discussion belongs in the Northwest thread, but, yes, I share the same concerns as you, Marsh Street is where the infamous trailer park off Mountain Road is located. I cannot imagine people wanting to buy newly constructed condos here.

There is vacant land to the east of Marsh Street where this building could be located, but, the trailer park proper is just across the street.

I wonder if this is a harbinger for relocation of the trailer park..............

[Riberview]

There are a number of vacant trailers in the park. Marsh St specifically, the majority of the buildings have been vacated.

[MonctonRad]

I went to the open house for the Riverfront Master Plan this evening.

Very interesting. Some big ideas out there. The most transformational one would be for a large civic cultural building to be built along the riverfront at the foot of Downing Street, essentially across from the Ashford project.

This building would actually extend over the shoreline, and would face the river, with a large glass facade. The render of course was conceptual, and they are not yet sure what would be sited within the building, but, it would likely contain a performance space, and, possibly a relocated public library.

The organizer I talked to said he would send me the conceptual drawings, and a short video. If he does so, I will post them here. If not, these plans are now public, and will be posted online shortly anyway, probably at Let's Chat Moncton.

The plans are grand. The future of the downtown is bright. Let's make it happen!!!

[jonny golden]

I like the idea of extending over the shoreline and the glass wall. We've been waiting a long time for development in this area south of Main Street. It seems like we're finally going to see things get off the ground.

Any thoughts on what would be done with the current library space if it were to vacate the Blue Cross building? Just more offices?

[Leroy321]

How many storeys would something like that be?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Leroy321

How many storeys would something like that be?

I took this photo at the open house. It is magnified and cropped just to show the cultural building. It's not very good quality (the lighting in the Blue Cross atrium was lousy).



This rendering is aspirational and not predictive of final design, but it gives you an idea of what they want to do.

I would say the glass curtain wall facing the Petitcodiac River is 5-6 storeys tall. The back of the Blue Cross Centre is to the top left in the image.

[reflist]

This is giving me some Jetsons vibes. I know this is only conceptual but I think I like it. This would definitely stand out from the crowd with all the angled lines creating a wedge shape. I really like the building over hang right on top the riverfront trail. Just imagine your biking or walking under this building, I bet you'd get a awe inspiring feeling. That veiwing platform over the river would also give you a birds eye view of the daily bore. Aside from the Jetsons, this reminded me of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. I living in Quebec City during its construction and it was amazing seeing the overhang being built.

[David_99]

It would certainly be quite the bookend with the Gateway Towers at the other end. Future trail improvements / riverfront shops between them could be a real game changer downtown.

[MonctonRad]

Regardless of the final design, and the final purpose of the "cultural building", given the aspirations of the building having a unique design (signature), and a large platform extending over the riverbank, this building will likely be very expensive, like, almost Avenir Centre expensive.

I get this. I am supportive of this. All cities want to have signature cultural buildings that define their character. Freddy has the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. SJ will have the new NB Museum. Halifax has multiple such buildings, notably the downtown library on SGR. Moncton wants something similar, and, with the possibility of relocating the public library to this building, I would suggest that the library on SGR is the closest corollary to what Moncton wants to do.

The city will have to proceed carefully. We all remember the howls of outrage over the cost of the Avenir Centre, and, these persisted long after it became obvious how much the Avenir Centre changed the west end of the downtown core, and improved the city's tax base. Expect similar howls with this proposal. The city will just have to carry on and ignore the naysayers.

The time frame for the Riverfront Master Plan is 2025-2055. I suspect the "cultural building" will not be part of the plan for 15 years or so. Lots of buy in from the province and the feds will be necessary. and this takes time. I doubt I will ever see it, but, Moncton is growing, and deserves the fruits of a developing metropolis. My granddaughter may appreciate this building quite a bit.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by David_99

It would certainly be quite the bookend with the Gateway Towers at the other end. Future trail improvements / riverfront shops between them could be a real game changer downtown.

It is interesting, but, I have been told that Lafford ALREADY has commitments for the riverfront facing CRUs in the Gateway development (restaurants, food services). This is going to be a hot property.

[Leroy321]

Did they happen to show anything with the downing ashford project?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Leroy321

Did they happen to show anything with the downing ashford project?

They showed TWO towers on the site (for massing purposes). I don't know how official that is, but I think that is what is anticipated.

[MonctonRad]

I haven't recieved the conceptual drawing from the official I was talking to (yet), so I am going to post another couple of images I took at the open house. Again, I apologize for the poor quality. The lighting was lousy, and there are a lot of reflections.



In the foreground is the Three Sisters and the Gateway Towers. In the background is Assumption Place, two Ashford Towers and the proposed civic "cultural building." In between, lining the riverfront is the Riverfront Park.



This second image labels components that may be included in the park between the cultural building and the Gateway Towers. If you squint, you can read the labels.

Components include:
- beach volleyball courts
- pickleball and basketball courts.
- skateboard park (pre-existing)
- pump track (for BMX bikes)
- an aboriginal pavilion on a pier extending over the riverfront marshland (this one is a slam dunk according to the official i was speaking to). Final design is pending aboriginal consultation.
- RCMP Memorial (not labelled on the render, but this isn't going anywhere).
- interpretive boardwalk
- beer garden/container village
- performance space on the green next to the civic cultural building.

They also note the patio/terrace along the riverfront facing portion of the commercial podium of the Gateway Towers. There will be more restuarants and food services located here.

Essentially they want to turn the Riverfront Park into a real people place and a destination which will draw people to the downtown, and boost the attractiveness of the core for downtown urban living in an attempt to boost the residential population of the core.

I think the overall concept to be quite exciting!

[Leroy321]

I like the height and look of those two towers I hope ashford has something like that in mind.

[MonctonRad]

I have now acquired the official panels that were displayed at the Riverfront Master Plan open house at the Blue Cross Centre atrium on Thursday night.

Here are the most pertinent ones as far as I'm concerned - enjoy!







Screen Shot 2025-11-09 at 12.26.20 PM







A whole lot to unpack here, but, a couple of things that I have noted for the first time:

- a pedway leading from the "cultural building" over Assumption Blvd to the Blue Cross complex (and subsequently to city hall).
- a new bus terminal in front of the cultural building.
- a floating dock off of the plaza in back of the cultural building with kayak rentals.
- a low rise residential building on the site of the (soon to be former) Codiac RCMP HQ, with a community stage and food truck market in behind.
- a whole whack of new low rise mixed use buildings on the south side of east Main Street as it leads to the Chateau Moncton.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Real grass roof on that civic cultural building???

That would be absolutely wicked!

[Leroy321]

Kayak rentals would be interesting.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Real grass roof on that civic cultural building???

That would be absolutely wicked!

Vancouver Convention Centre has a grass roof.

These conceptual drawings however are purely aspirational, and have no basis in actual reality. They do give an idea of what the city wants to accomplish.

It will be interesting to see what the city will include in this cultural space.

The conceptual drawing below gives an idea:



The whole package includes:

1) - cultural building
2) - outdoor concert space with a permanent stage (this will occupy the space where the riverfront parking lot is now, and will formalize the use of this space for activities such as the Canada Day Concert and Rib Fest).
3) - a beer garden and container village to service the outdoor concert space.
4) -an "art installation garden" between the concert space and the riverfront.
5) - public art on the plaza behind the cultural building
6) - a performance amphitheatre on the plaza, overlooking the Petitcodiac River.

The nature of the "cultural building" is left unclear, but, talking to several people at the open house, relocation of the public library seems very likely. In addition, there was talk about a new indoors performance venue as well. It is conceivable that this building may be large enough for both purposes (the render shows a building as high as six storeys facing the riverfront.

Do we need a new downtown performance space?

The Capitol Theatre is a historic gem, but, has a seating capacity of only 800, and, the stage, backstage area and the wings are quite small, limiting theatrical productions.

The old Moncton High auditorium is larger, but has it's own restrictions, and this building remains vacant and has an uncertain future.

The Molson Centre at Casino NB is mostly designed for visiting stage acts, and is not a proper venue for theatrical or dance productions. It is also on the edge of the city about 10 km from the downtown core.

Given this, I do think a case could be made for a new, larger, and purpose built theatrical space here on the waterfront. With a space like this, a resident theatre group could be created and Broadway-like productions could be mounted. It would also provide a proper venue for our very own Atlantic Ballet Theatre, and for Symphony NB. The Capitol Theatre could remain busy with smaller productions, and, Casino NB could continue bringing in lounge acts and fading rock stars.

A proper theatrical facility on the waterfront, paired with a relocated city library? Heck yeah!!!