Troupe unveils new building
Published Thursday August 14th, 2008
Arts Restoration of Saint John Theatre Company's new home nears completion
Josh O'Kane
Telegraph-Journal
SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Theatre Company is putting on a facade.
KâtÈ LeBlanc/Telegraph-Journal
Stephen Tobias, artistic director of the Saint John Theatre Company, in front of the new facade of the group’s building on Princess Street.
This isn't one of the group's stage shows, though - the company revealed a finished portion of the facade of its new building on Wednesday.
The ground level of the exterior is complete, while the top level will require more brickwork and new windows.
A crowd of 50 attended the announcement by the theatre company as it revealed the facade, as well as the design of the interior of its new headquarters building at 112 Princess St.
The company is spread out among several locations, with offices in Brunswick Square, rehearsal space in the Aliant tower, construction workshops on Prince William Street, and a warehouse space in the north end.
The new building consolidates the troupe's resources, says Stephen Tobias, artistic director of the company. Pending a building inspection sometime this week, the theatre company could start moving into the building for good in several weeks' time.
The amalgamation of facilities into the 8,000-square-foot building marks a major milestone for the company.
It also has another reason to celebrate - Wednesday's announcement coincided with the company's reaching 90 per cent of its $1.4-million capital fundraising goal for the building. The original capital goal was $925,000 - but that was before the group found out the building was structurally unsound.
"We had to rebuild the building from scratch," Tobias said Wednesday. "The silver lining of that was, we actually got to design exactly the building that we wanted. Up until that time, we were planning to really utilize a lot of the structure and the footprint of the building as it existed then.
"All we had were support posts, four brick walls and a roof. Literally everything you see, with the exception of the brick walls, it's all been designed to our specs. The design is really perfect for what we're doing."
Among other features, the new building has a large construction workshop, a rehearsal space and large loading dock, which Tobias hints could be used as an outdoor stage.
"We're already talking about that for next summer. Imagine a tent in that parking lot with 100 people sitting out there for Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, or some sort of thing like that."
The rehearsal space on the top floor of the building can also act as a stage.
"We have a lighting grid, we have technical capabilities. There's no reason why this space can't double as a small studio production space to seat 50 to 75 people for little intimate performances."
Coun. Carl Killen was in attendance, as well as councillors Gary Sullivan and Donnie Snook.
"The fact that this building has been restored to this degree is in itself a wonderful thing," said Killen, who represents Ward 3, where the building is located. "And that it would in turn be given to such a profoundly valuable community use? It's another one of those situations where there are so many positives that it's almost become difficult to list them."
Along with other new artistic initiatives uptown, Killen said "there's a real sense of the potential to bring a new kind of vibrancy to the uptown that I think is marvelous."
Aside from smaller renovation issues, the rear parking lot still must be paved and landscaped, and an elevator is yet to be in place. But Tobias said these items shouldn't take too long.
"We are in a position now where we will be auditioning, rehearsing, building and producing Chicago from this facility," said the artistic director. Chicago goes on stage the third week of November.
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Few uptown vacancies
Published Thursday August 14th, 2008
Retail Brunswick Square, Market Square boast occupancy rates of more than 90 per cent
BRUCE BARTLETT
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
SAINT JOHN - Retail space in the uptown is getting tight, a sign that the economic boom is building in the city.
At Brunswick Square, 92 per cent of the retail space is rented and in the office tower it is slightly higher, at 94 per cent, said Paulette Hicks, general manager of the complex.
In neighbouring Market Square, operated by the Hardman Group, there is a 95 occupancy rate with only one empty retail space.
The occupancy rates are higher than they have traditionally been, but the current rates are optimal because it gives a bit of flexibility. There is a lot of interest in uptown Saint John, said Hicks.
City Hall, in between the two, is owned by Revenue Properties Ltd in Toronto and has just recently rented out a space along the pedway that was vacant for awhile. Angela Sagrati is bringing her business to the uptown after opening a jewelry outlet in McAllister Place in March.
On Sept. 1 she plans to relocate Jewels for Divas to the Shoppes of City Hall, closing out her kiosk on the east side.
The former owner of Sagrati's in the City Market says she feels more at home in the uptown, so she was on the lookout for a place to put her new business and is grateful to have found one.
"My heart was set on being in the uptown from the beginning," she said. "Once you have owned a business in the uptown, it is really hard to work anywhere else."
Sagrati opened her kiosk in McAllister Place in March, carrying imported sterling silver pieces from such places as India, Mexico and Israel, as well as fresh water pearls from Beijing, Murano glass from Italy and semi-precious stones.
It has an exotic international flair, which will find an audience more in the uptown area, Sagrati said.
In the City Market she was providing food, but sold the business about three years ago and is now excited to be in retail. A graphic artist by trade, Sagrati has an eye for beautiful things from around the world and always got a positive response whenever she wore pieces of jewelry she purchased on vacation.
She has been following with great interest the proposal by Irving Oil to build a new headquarters at Long Wharf.
"I am very anxious about that, because if it doesn't go through I will be extremely disappointed," she said.
As a businesswoman with a product aimed at other women, she expects the number of females working in the new complex would be around 40 per cent.
Sagrati researched suppliers and is importing directly from them. The jewelry she sells ranges in price from $75 to $150 for bracelets, $40 to $60 for rings, and $60 to $70 for earrings.
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