The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[kwajo]

Drawing of the new clock tower going up on the corner of King and Prince William. Crews are already on site doing the prep work. Image from the Telegraph Journal.



Also, it's a real bummer for locals and tourists alike that a major section of Harbour Passage (from Long Wharf to HMCS Brunswicker) is being closed all Summer to allow for Harbour Bridge repairs. Especially for people who use it to commute between the North End and Uptown, because the alternative routes are much longer. I guess we'll have to start using the train tracks again...

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by kwajo

Drawing of the new clock tower going up on the corner of King and Prince William. Crews are already on site doing the prep work.

Image taken by yours truly

[Sabien]

Did they remove the big tree that was near the corner? I haven't driven by since they started the work.
The clock will be an beautiful addition to the streetscape but trees of that size go a long way towards beautification. I'm sure they could have come to a compromise. I didn't hear any news at the council meetings regarding an application/approval to remove a tree.

[kwajo]

Yeah they did remove the tree, which I am actually pretty disappointed about, but maybe they plan on putting some other vegetation around the clock as a replacement. I hope they made an effort to move the tree, there are lots of areas Uptown that could have used it, but they probably just cut it down. I won't complain too much though, as the city actually does a good job of maintaining trees on the peninsula, they have several arborists on staff and seem very quick at replacing street trees that have been knocked over or that have died.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

I think that hole is being used for more than just a clock foundation. I think they doing some form of water works as well.

I've been told that the tools required for removing a tree to transplant are actually pretty specialized and that's pretty hard to do when root structures have formed under paved areas.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by PersonPlaceorThing

I think that hole is being used for more than just a clock foundation. I think they doing some form of water works as well.

I've been told that the tools required for removing a tree to transplant are actually pretty specialized and that's pretty hard to do when root structures have formed under paved areas.

That could be case. Upon driving by on a bus yesterday the hole in the ground was fairly deep, more than what is needed for just a clock.

Are there any sort of other projects like this going up for 225?

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

That could be case. Upon driving by on a bus yesterday the hole in the ground was fairly deep, more than what is needed for just a clock.

Are there any sort of other projects like this going up for 225?

I think they mentioned that there is a public art project coming for the 225 celebrations.

[Helladog]

Source: Cindy Wilson / Telegraph Journal

[Helladog]

Source: Submission to Telegraph Journal

In the background you can see the hospital expansion and land cleared for housing.

[Sabien]

I was on Water street today and saw that there is a portable office trailer setup on the site of the proposed Three Sisters Condo development. This is the first physical sign that it is going forward. Now I'm excited! (please don't tell me that its only parked there by coincidence and its realy moving on to another site).
I've been anxiously waiting for this project to start. Its going to be a beautiful development and exactly what Saint John needs.

[JHikka]

Photos by myself.

[Archimand]

Originally Posted by Sabien

I was on Water street today and saw that there is a portable office trailer setup on the site of the proposed Three Sisters Condo development. This is the first physical sign that it is going forward. Now I'm excited! (please don't tell me that its only parked there by coincidence and its realy moving on to another site).
I've been anxiously waiting for this project to start. Its going to be a beautiful development and exactly what Saint John needs.

I went down water street today and noticed the trailer as well. I also noticed there was a sign promoting the project. It also had a phone number on it didn't catch it though.

[JHikka]

Taken from CHSJ News' site, in regards to Peel Plaza

Several changes are being made to the Peel Plaza development to make it cheaper for Saint John taxpayers.
Doesn't matter, the city's still in the red.

City Manager Pat Woods concedes the new parking garage will not be as large as first proposed.
Unfortunate.

Woods maintains those changes will not negatively impact how the police station operates.
That's exactly what I was worried about, phew.

He also claims the parking garage will be financially self sustaining.
Like the toll on the Harbour Bridge, right?

[kwajo]

There's no way the parking garage is self-sustaining unless they charge about $20 an hour. Parking structures in general are not revenue generators, and especially not in Saint John.

[Coyett]

It's a welcome development that the Irvings have an interest in architecture and design

Irvings donate $4 million to Harvard's landscape architecture department.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/...chitects_are_reinventing_the_discipline/

[kwajo]

Walked past the Harbourfront Residences site today at lunch and saw a crew removing the old retaining wall below Prince William St. and snapped a photo of the office trailer and an excavator on-site, so it looks like work is finally started on this one! Between this and the new courthouse, we actually have two project under construction this year that will impact our skyline significantly, which is fantastic news.


(notice our snazzy oil tanker docked at Long Wharf too!)

[Fischbob]

Irving Oil ponders biodiesel refinery in N.B.
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 | 8:25 AM AT Comments24Recommend24
CBC News

Irving Oil Ltd. is considering building a biodiesel refinery in east Saint John.

The company has applied for a provincial environmental impact assessment to construct and operate a production plant at the Grandview Industrial Park, within the existing Irving Oil Refinery.

Biodiesel, a vegetable oil or animal fat-based diesel fuel, burns cleaner than gasoline and traditional diesel.

If approved, the refinery would make fuel from such renewable products as refurbished cooking grease, animal fats, vegetable oils and agricultural seed oils, said spokeswoman Sam Robinson.

"The proposed plant would be designed to produce 2,200 barrels per day of biodiesel," she said.

By comparison, the conventional Irving Oil Refinery currently produces about 300,000 barrels of oil and gas per day.

There is a potential for odour, but biodiesel is made through a "closed-loop system" that will minimize that potential, Robinson said.
Environmental group in favour

David Coon of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick said he supports the proposed plant, as long as it doesn't get too big.

"Scale is everything and if you maintain it at a relatively small scale, then it can be done on a sustainable basis," he said. "But if the scale of this got very large, then it becomes more of a concern.

"It's really kind of a short-term, stop-gap measure to try to reduce emissions from diesel fuel while more longer-term prospects are being worked upon."

In Canada, new federal regulations require that diesel oil contain two per cent renewable energy. And in the U.S., the regulations require five per cent. So several big businesses are now taking a serious interest in biodiesel.

The federal government is also offering incentives to encourage Canadian companies to get into the biodiesel manufacturing business.

To qualify, interested companies had to register for an environment impact assessment with their provincial governments by March 31, which is the day that Irving Oil filed its application.

"Again, to reiterate, this project is in the very early stages of development and a significant amount of work needs to be completed before we could make a decision on moving forward," said Robinson.

Under the new federal rules, companies can buy credits if they choose not to add the biodiesel to their diesel, she said.

Irving Oil could also buy biodiesel from someone else, so the company is exploring all of its options.

If the project goes ahead, it would create about 300 jobs during construction and up to 30 full-time jobs, Robinson said.

Last July, Irving Oil and BP shelved plans to build a second conventional oil refinery, known as Eider Rock, just outside Saint John.

A study conducted by Irving Oil and the international oil giant concluded that the project was not viable during the economic downturn and the softening demand for petroleum products, officials said.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/04/21/nb-irving-oil-biodiesel.html

Small potatoes compared to what Eider Rock would have been, but hopefully this project gets off the ground.

[Wrightguy0]

It won't be Eider Rock, but it is something, and it's going to fit in with the Energy Hub vision of the city. Let's hope it goes ahead

[michael_d40]

New Restaurant Coming to East Saint John











Can't add a pic from the iPhone so here's the link to the picture.....

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DwG2WG2QbOk/S9CDVsC6d8I/AAAAAAAADCk/wMCkCpvc3g8/s1600/wok+box

  (Wox Box Restaurant Coming to East Point Shopping)
                   (Supplied Photo)
There is a new face coming to the restaurants that call East Saint John home.


The Wox Box Fresh Asian Kitchen will set up shop in the East Point Shopping Center.



It's the first restaurant in the franchise to open in the Province.


The owners say everything is made fresh to order, nothing pre-packaged and MSG is added to the food.


The new restaurant will be set-up next to Starbucks and if everything stays on schedule, should be open by the first week of July.



POSTED BY CHSJ NEWS AT 2:13 PM

[JHikka]

Via UNBSJ

Construction Begins on University Commons

I am pleased to announce that tenders have been awarded to Dora Construction to begin work on the University Commons. Work on the site will begin immediately.

As you will have noticed the project site has already been fenced off and parking relocated to the north side of campus. With the site officially declared a construction zone, and for the safety of our campus community, access to the site is now restricted to authorized personnel only.

Progress of the project will be digitally documented and available for viewing on the University Commons website at www.unb.ca/saintjohn/universitycommons

The University Commons project will be the centrepiece of all of the development currently underway. Thank you for your patience as we build a better campus for our entire community.

Chris Callbeck
Assistant Vice-President (Financial & Administrative Services)

I'm still hesitant towards the Commons. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.