The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[Wolkenkratzerliebhab]

Originally Posted by JHikka

I'm not too worried about that side...i'm still concerned about the side facing west

True! The side facing the West is anything but the best. Rather hideous, if you ask me?

[Ire Narissis]

Originally Posted by Peter_johnns

The city should get a some local artist to do a mural. It is a perfect canvas.

This is too good an idea for them to ever act on.

[JHikka]

Photo Update:

Signage is up on Noel Avenue:


Still waiting for a roof on Technology:


And two of the proposed site for development on Waterloo & Golding:



Photos by me, courtesy Minus

Originally Posted by Ire Narissis

This is too good an idea for them to ever act on.

There are people in this city that are against paintings or art or anything of that kind. Boggles my mind.

For those of you who haven't spent much time in SJ, here's a shot of St. Vincent's High School which, IMO, is a very underappreciated building and is almost never mentioned in conversations about historic buildings. Completed in 1917.

[Fischbob]

The parking garage cladding looks great! The colours seem to be succeeding in adding visual interest without being too loud. Hopefully the yellow doesn't throw this off too much. The blank side wall is definitely a disappointment, and I agree with the calls for a mural of some sort.

St. Vincent's is a gorgeous building, but given the track record of the Diocese with their heritage properties on Cliff, I'm quite concerned that it's going to be the next one they try to demolish.

It's kind of silly how new development in contemporary styles (even on vacant lots) is seriously stymied by the regulations in our heritage areas, while at the same time there seems to be no enforceable protection at all for significant properties outside the boundary. It's almost the worst of both worlds, and IMO warrants a revisiting of our heritage bylaws.

[Peter_johnns]

I would love to see St. Vincent's be made into apartments. With the new proposals on Waterloo– the city really should focus on developing to Waterloo Village into something we can be proud of.

And on the note of a mural of the side of the garage facing west. It should be a no brainer, Come on SJ Council! Get with it!

[Peter_johnns]

The Marco Polo– Imagine something like this on the side of the garage facing west.
Image by Montague Dawson

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by Fischbob

The parking garage cladding looks great! The colours seem to be succeeding in adding visual interest without being too loud. Hopefully the yellow doesn't throw this off too much. The blank side wall is definitely a disappointment, and I agree with the calls for a mural of some sort.

St. Vincent's is a gorgeous building, but given the track record of the Diocese with their heritage properties on Cliff, I'm quite concerned that it's going to be the next one they try to demolish.

It's kind of silly how new development in contemporary styles (even on vacant lots) is seriously stymied by the regulations in our heritage areas, while at the same time there seems to be no enforceable protection at all for significant properties outside the boundary. It's almost the worst of both worlds, and IMO warrants a revisiting of our heritage bylaws.

That was one of the things I was pushing for in the election campaigns last year. You're absolutely right, the current regulations make it difficult to build anything contemporary in the currently designated areas, while offering very little to the historic preservation of other neighbourhoods, which in my opinion is equal or greater in value to Trinity Royal itself.

[Whaler]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Photo Update:

Signage is up on Noel Avenue:


Still waiting for a roof on Technology:


And two of the proposed site for development on Waterloo & Golding:



Photos by me, courtesy Minus


There are people in this city that are against paintings or art or anything of that kind. Boggles my mind.

For those of you who haven't spent much time in SJ, here's a shot of St. Vincent's High School which, IMO, is a very underappreciated building and is almost never mentioned in conversations about historic buildings. Completed in 1917.

Pretty sure that St. Vincents is slated for demo this summer.

[Peter_johnns]

Christ... There is always so much bad news coming out of Saint John, it's really vexing. Saint John could have been so much more. Once one of the largest cities in the country to being what it is now. It should be easily the size of Halifax. The province needs to step in and put more effort into getting this city out of this damn rut. I mean Saint John has basically funded the whole province for centuries, I think it is time the city gets some well deserved special treatment. After all, it still is the economic centre.

[flwright]

Originally Posted by kwajo

That was one of the things I was pushing for in the election campaigns last year. You're absolutely right, the current regulations make it difficult to build anything contemporary in the currently designated areas, while offering very little to the historic preservation of other neighbourhoods, which in my opinion is equal or greater in value to Trinity Royal itself.

On the contrary.

When the City reviewed the heritage bylaw about 8 years ago they, in fact, brought in more lenient standards that allows for a great deal more flexibility than the old regulations ever permitted. Unfortunately, it's a little known fact and the old stereotype that "heritage rules don't let you do anything" still persists.

Remember when it used to be the "Preservation Review Board?" They even rebranded themselves as the "Heritage DEVELOPMENT Board" in an effort to show that they are more development friendly. I've worked very closely with these regulations and can attest to their flexibility. As a good example, do you remember the fantastic little patio outside happinez wine bar on Princess Street (http://theacre.ca/theprojects/hapito-patio-happinez-wine-bar/)? There is not one "heritage" thing about it but it was fully reviewed and approved by the board under the current regulations.

The opinions of the heritage board members, on the other hand, might be another story altogether but what we're lacking more than anything is good, forward looking projects, developers willing to push the envelope, and to drop this silly notion that you can't build anything modern in the conservation areas.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by flwright

The opinions of the heritage board members, on the other hand, might be another story altogether but what we're lacking more than anything is good, forward looking projects, developers willing to push the envelope, and to drop this silly notion that you can't build anything modern in the conservation areas.

As of now there seem to be plenty of vacant buildings being renovated that I can't imagine there's currently much a market for new development, at least not for commercial or studio. The renovations at Hayward & Warwick and on King Street are a good example of renovating existing buildings for new tenants. If you walk down Prince William or Canterbury you can still see a few vacant buildings and empty storefronts. Once these buildings are renovated and filled I would only assume that demand for new development will begin to increase...but however long it takes for them to be filled remains to be seen.

[W.Sobchak]

Wait, St. Vincent's is slated to go down... My heart just sank. I loved walking in that neighbourhood.

I always thought that block and the Old St. Jo's site should have been where UNBSJ set up its campus.

[Freddypop]

Originally Posted by Peter_johnns

Christ... There is always so much bad news coming out of Saint John, it's really vexing. Saint John could have been so much more. Once one of the largest cities in the country to being what it is now. It should be easily the size of Halifax. The province needs to step in and put more effort into getting this city out of this damn rut. I mean Saint John has basically funded the whole province for centuries, I think it is time the city gets some well deserved special treatment. After all, it still is the economic centre.

Saint John will shine brightly once the east-west pipeline is announced later this spring. Will be the catalyst to turn Saint John around (not that its doing badly) and the rest of the province....stay tuned...

[UptownJeff]

Originally Posted by Freddypop

Saint John will shine brightly once the east-west pipeline is announced later this spring. Will be the catalyst to turn Saint John around (not that its doing badly) and the rest of the province....stay tuned...

Is this a fact or wishful thinking? I sure hope you have inside info! I agree that news would be the best thing to happen to us in years!!

[Freddypop]

Originally Posted by UptownJeff

Is this a fact or wishful thinking? I sure hope you have inside info! I agree that news would be the best thing to happen to us in years!!

3 specific things point to this pending announcement:

- Frank McKenna stated a couple of weeks ago on CBC that he expected an announcement this spring
- Blaine Higgs was asked about Frank's comments this AM on CBC and he stated that he expected an announcement in April
- the NB budget announced yesterday was developed on the premise of a future with our natural resources. Specifically stated in the budget document were mining, shale gas and the east-west pipeline to Saint John. I'm sure they would not have even mentioned these items unless these files have some legs to them.

Look out Saint John....looks like its your turn to shine. What's good for Saint John is good for NB...

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by Freddypop

- the NB budget announced yesterday was developed on the premise of a future with our natural resources. Specifically stated in the budget document were mining, shale gas and the east-west pipeline to Saint John. I'm sure they would not have even mentioned these items unless these files have some legs to them.

You give our provincial government too much credit.

[JHikka]

I'm fairly certain recalling someone in this thread stating that if the E-W pipeline was confirmed that there would then be a reason for a second refinery to be constructed. I'm not sure how much truth there is to that but i'm just putting that out there. Never know I guess.

One thing standing in the way of the EW Pipeline is getting all provinces on-board for the development. That's one small but large impediment in the process.

I'm surprised Mining, Shale Gas, and EW were mentioned but not Potash, unless that's rolled in to mining.

[Taeolas]

To keep reading into it, despite the budget crunch we're in, they are finding funds to finish the Mile 1 Interchange in SJ. (Makes sense considering how far along it is); But the CBC article saying that mentioned how the interchange was made specifically in anticipation for a second refinery. Read into it what you will.

[Freddypop]

Originally Posted by JHikka

I'm fairly certain recalling someone in this thread stating that if the E-W pipeline was confirmed that there would then be a reason for a second refinery to be constructed. I'm not sure how much truth there is to that but i'm just putting that out there. Never know I guess.

One thing standing in the way of the EW Pipeline is getting all provinces on-board for the development. That's one small but large impediment in the process.

I'm surprised Mining, Shale Gas, and EW were mentioned but not Potash, unless that's rolled in to mining.

Potash was also mentioned in the budget as well.

Higgs also stated something about the LNG plant a link between that and shale gas. That the LNG plant would be used to export that resource

Here is the link to the Higgs discussion on CBC Radio Freddy this AM. The interesting stuff starts at about the 5:40 - 9:40 minute.

http://www.cbc.ca/video/player.html?clipid=2361606032&position=17461&site=cbc.news.ca

[cdnguys]

When the pipeline comes to Saint John, a second refinery will not be built. What will be built is a "Coker Unit" on front of the existing refinery to upgrade the bitumen so it can be processed. This will be a multi billion dollar investment. You can expect a couple thousand construction jobs, then once built 300 to 400 full time refining jobs. Irving will not announce this until pipeline is announced because they learned their lessons about setting expectations high prematurely. For example, the second refinery resulted in other projects being built that otherwise would probably not have been built without the hype. Chateau Saint John hotel is one that comes to mind. Voyageur upgrader cancelled in Alberta - bad for Alberta. Good for Saint John