North Enders Doin' it Right - on the 'right' side of town
Published Thursday November 12th, 2009
C6
Herb Duncan
A few decades ago a song entitled Doin' it Right was made popular by a Nova Scotia group called April Wine. A couple of the lines from the lyrics were:
"Doin' it right, doin' it right,
We're doin' it right on the wrong side of town."
Last week we had an official opening and a good turnout for the revitalized Victoria Square in the old north end, one of the many important steps on the road to rebuilding an inner-city community. As I was taking a drive through this neighbourhood last week I noticed yet another transformation taking place: a grand, old home from the 1800s on Albert Street was getting a complete makeover, inside and out. One of the activities that caught my eye was the old cedar shingles being replaced with new cedar shingles.
"Thank God," I said - at least someone has the good sense and taste to use original materials in restoring a building to its former glory.
If you haven't already guessed, I absolutely detest the use of vinyl siding on historic buildings. It's comparable to dressing a princess in a sack. To be perfectly honest I don't like it on new buildings either. Properly maintained cedar shingles will last a 100 years. Can we say as much for vinyl siding?
I stopped long enough to talk to the owner, Zakaria Ahmad, a 22-year-old from Ottawa. He laughed and said that he is probably the only Muslim buying properties in the old north end. He told me Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada and if you are on the lookout for a property, buying a home in this friendly city would be an ideal option for investors. Prices are low and homes are available at nearly half of the market prices in other cities. There has never been a better opportunity to buy a home in one of the county's best residential cities at a great bargain deal. He describes Saint John as a hidden gem waiting to be discovered by investors. It's a city of great opportunity that will have lots of potential in the upcoming years.
I know there are a lot of folks that have placed their bets on the "vinyl is final" option. It may look and feel good in the valley's cookie-cutter communities, but I believe over the long haul the smart money will be invested in the city core. The housing market is not unlike the stock market where you have enough insight to buy at, or near the bottom, and have the opportunity to sell at the top. Do you get the picture?
I moved down to Kennedy Street and there, before my eyes, was yet another transformation taking place, again, stone and cedar shingles. "What's this," I asked? I knew that there was a threat of a H1N1 pandemic, but could Saint John be on the verge of an epidemic of good taste and common sense?
I just had to stop and talk to the owner. Bob Thompson, who owns B&B Thompson Carpentry, is a quiet, capable and unassuming middle-aged man. He told me that the house was built in the mid-1800s and over the years had been cut up to make three apartments. He is in the process of restoring the building to its intended use, that of a single-family home.
It strikes me that many of the houses in the old north end were built more than 100 years ago and in spite of decades of neglect many are still fundamentally sound and represent good value. These homes were built by Saint John's proud tradesmen and were built to last. True, many may need a bit of TLC, but I will wager a bet they could very well last another 100 years.
If I were to change the lyrics of Doin' it Right as a segue into some of these restoration efforts in the old north end, it might go like this:
"Doin' it right, doin' it right,
We're doin' it right on the right side of town."
Herb Duncan is a Saint John businessman who has followed city issues for more than three decades. He can be reached by e-mail at
[email protected]
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