The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[random11]

BONAPARTE LAKE - Work started Thursday on 11 contracts totalling $900,000 to clear the right-of-way for a wider Highway 1 through Charlotte County.


Derwin Gowan/Telegraph-Journal

New Brunswick Southwest MP Greg Thompson, left, and provincial Fisheries Minister Rick Doucet signal thumbs-up Thursday as they announced the awarding of 11 contracts to clear 40 kilometres of right-of-way to widen Highway 1. Reggie Gardner is the skidder operator.
New Brunswick Southwest MP Greg Thompson and provincial Fisheries Minister Rick Doucet announced the start of the work along 40 kilometres of two-lane road from Murray Road to Letang, in the Pennfield/Lepreau area and the Mealy Road connector.

They chose a site near Bonaparte Lake in the Waweig area to make the announcement, with diesel-powered forestry equipment roaring in the background grinding up trees from the right-of-way.

The federal and provincial governments will pay for the work, which they must complete ahead of the Route 1 Gateway Project.

A private sector partner will start work this year widening the remaining 55 kilometres of two-lane road along Highway 1, all of it through Charlotte County, as part of the Gateway project.

The government had to start clearing the right-of-way now to finish it in the time allowed under federal migratory bird law, Transportation Department spokesman Andrew Holland said. Federal legislation restricts such work to certain times of the year.

In Charlotte County the private sector partner must twin 27 kilometres of two-lane highway from Waweig to St. George and 28 kilometres from Pennfield to Lepreau by July 31, 2013. The project includes widened crossings at the Digdeguash, Magaguadavic, Letang, Pocologan, New and Lepreau rivers.

The successful proponent will assume responsibility for operating, maintaining and rehabilitating all 235 kilometres of Highway 1 from St. Stephen to River Glade for 30 years starting June 2011, according to information on the Transportation Department's website.

"This is just truly exciting," Doucet told reporters at the Thursday event. "We're going to have a much safer highway. It will be great for economic development, great for tourism."

This safe new highway will facilitate movement of goods from Saint John to the new border crossing into the United States at St. Stephen, he said. "We're all very excited about it."

"Twinning of the highway between our biggest industrial city and the biggest market in the world, this is important not only for New Brunswick but Nova Scotia because it still is the shortest distance to the biggest market in the world," Thompson said.

"It's really connecting two great market places in the world, right here in southern New Brunswick - a huge economic impact on southern New Brunswick."

The project will include 104 kilometres of wildlife fencing, 52 kilometres on each side of the road, from Waweig to Lepreau.

"This corridor here has been known for a lot of wildlife crossings, so this is going to rectify that problem," Doucet said.

"I live in this neighbourhood and it is a big concern," Thompson said.

In December 2008, the provincial Transportation Department announced that the Route 1 Gateway Project would engage a private sector developer/operator.

In November the province announced the three proponents that met the technical specifications to bid on this job: New Brunswick Transportation Group, the Dexter Team and the Brun-Way Group.

These proponents must submit financial proposals by the end of this month. The government will name the winner in time for the start of the construction season this spring.

Besides the work in Charlotte County, the Route 1 Gateway Project includes new guiderails on a number of bridges and overpasses, reconfiguring the Highway 1/Highway 7 interchange, additional east- and westbound lanes for the Mackay Highway - creating New Brunswick's first six-lane highway - and reconfiguring parts of the Highway 1/Highway 111 interchange along with additional lanes for the Highway 111 overpass.

[michael_d40]

New University Commons building to start construction this year.

[Helladog]

Originally Posted by michael_d40

New University Commons building to start construction this year.

Commons campaign launched

Education: Eighty per cent of $25M goal has been raised so far

SANDRA DAVIS
Telegraph-Journal

SAINT JOHN - Construction of a new Commons building on the University of New Brunswick Saint John campus will begin in April and will signal a new era in university life, its proponents say.

On Wednesday, UNBSJ faculty and friends gathered for the unveiling of an artist's rendition of the big, light-filled, $25-million building and to officially launch a fundraising campaign to complete the project.

Situated next to K.C. Irving Hall and opposite the new Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick building, the Commons will be the first building visitors to the campus will see. It is scheduled for completion in March 2011.

"It will reflect the transformation that is happening on campus, where tens of millions of dollars in construction is now underway at Tucker Park," UNBSJ vice-president Robert MacKinnon said.

"The university Commons will be the first stand-alone building of its kind in the province."

Before the campaign was launched on Wednesday, more than 80 per cent of the cash needed was already raised, leaving an additional $4.6 million to be gathered by husband-and-wife business partners Mary Ann and Don Ketchum, who have agreed to lead the fundraising campaign.

"The last 20 per cent can be the most challenging," MacKinnon warned the crowd.

The new Commons will be designed to conserve energy and resources and will be certified with a Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) rating of silver.

It will be a "library of the future," MacKinnon said, and will include support services such as a student technology centre, writing centre, the math and stats tutoring centre, and the Commons Café.

The campus's science fiction and fantasy collection will be housed there and artworks from around the world will decorate its walls.

Within minutes, areas of the building will have the capacity to be transformed from seating spaces to guest lecture halls and back again.

"It is the cornerstone of extraordinary things that are going to happen on this campus and will benefit the entire region," MacKinnon said.

The Commons building project will be one of a series of major projects on the UNBSJ campus. The others include:

* A $2-million-plus renovation of Saint John College into the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick building. The new building is scheduled to open in September.

* The New Brunswick Community College's $23-million Allied Health Centre, scheduled to open in September 2011.

* A $1-million refurbishment of the Canada Games Stadium. Plans are to complete much of the renovations by June in time for the 2010 Jeux de l'Acadie - the Acadian Games.

[mylesmalley]

What does he mean by the first stand alone building of it's kind in the province?

[Joe]

News from earlier in the week.





SAINT JOHN - Troy Northrup says the answer to Saint John's most-asked question is May 27. That is the day the largest Costco in Atlantic Canada is set to open its doors in East Saint John.

Costco will hire 100 workers for this Saint John store at three jobs fairs in March. "It would be an understatement to say we are excited," said Northrup, developer of East Point Shopping. "For a whole lot of reason: for what it will do for the Greater Saint John community, the benefits of having it in East Point Shopping and I am excited as a citizen of this community."

Gary Swindells, vice-president of regional operations for Costco, said construction is almost completed and the company is expected to receive its first shipment of goods in April.

"It is beautiful," Swindells said. "It is 475,000 square feet with all the bells and whistles. Everything we carry at Costco we will have at this location, except gas pumps."

Costco is a warehouse membership store that sells everything from food to appliances to electronics. The Saint John location is off Retail Drive and is the latest addition to the East Point Shopping development that includes an Indigo book store, an open-air mall of clothing stores, Home Depot and a Montana's Restaurant.

Swindells said Costco is going to hire 100 employees. He said salaries for entry-level positions start at $11 an hour, with the potential to rise to more than $22 an hour.

The company has scheduled job fairs for March 5 from noon to 8 p.m., March 6 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and March 7 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Costco warehouse.

"We have had a lot of people calling with interest," Swindells said. "We have a lot of people who have already sent their resumés. We expect to have a pretty big crowd."

The company is hoping to find all the workers needed for the Saint John store at its job fairs.

Swindells said beginning March 15, a desk will be set up in the warehouse and people will be able to go in and sign up for their membership.

The Costco regional vice-president said the Moncton location grew to the point the company decided to look at other areas in the province and found it had a good relationship with Saint John.

"We offer all those great items and the prices are great," Swindells said. "We have a lot of people from Saint John driving to shop in Moncton. There will be a lot of quality products and it's a one-stop shop."

Northrup said the benefits for Saint John are plentiful.

It will stimulate retail expansion, allow Saint Johners to shop where they live and bring new people to the city, he said.

"It's a regional draw," Northrup said. "People will come here. It strengthens Saint John as a drive-in city rather than a drive-by city."

Northrup said that with their busy lives, people don't want to live in one city and shop in another. Costco will further strengthen the retail diversity so people never have to leave to get the things they need and want, he said.

He expects people from as far as Nova Scotia and Calais will make the trip to Saint John to save by shopping at Costco.

"When you look at Saint John and all of the things that have happened in Saint John in the last four or five years, each one of them is important but the sum of all the advantages are very material and very significant to Saint John," he said. "All of the advancements continue to strengthen the momentum of the city."

Northrup said East Point has come a long way since it started in 2006 and he looks forward to making more retail announcements very soon.

[michael_d40]

This artist’s rendition shows the new Mr. Big & Tall and Tip Top Tailors clothing stores in the foreground, with the new Costco wholesaler behind.




SAINT JOHN - East Point Shopping has taken the wraps off another well-kept secret.

Grafton-Fraser, a leading Canadian clothing chain of men's apparel announced today that Mr. Big & Tall will co-brand with Tip Top Tailors as the latest store to join the retail cast at the east side shopping mecca.

Construction of their new stand-alone location just off Retail Drive, near the soon-to-be opened Costco and TD Bank, is nearing completion.

Current plans call for opening the combination 45,000 square foot store to customers on March 17.

It will be Mr. Big & Tall's second New Brunswick store and provide spiffy new digs for Tip Top Tailors, which will be moving up the hill from the McAllister Place Mall.

On the inside, they will be set up as separate entities.

"The big thing about this is we're getting a brand in the city, Mr. Big & Tall, which hasn't been here before," East Point developer Troy Northrup said in making the announcement. "Anytime we can bring a new brand to the community it is of great benefit to everyone. It's certainly exciting to see the diversity of retail in Saint John continue to grow."

Every new retailer, he said, increases property values, reduces the property tax burden, invigorates the local economy and produces other economic benefits for the community.

"It feels great to have Mr. Big & Tall, along with Tip Top Tailors, coming to East Point," he added. "They share our passion to provide a truly exceptional shopping experience to the consumer. They have over 100 stores across Canada, have been in business for over 100 years and are well-regarded as one of the 50 best-managed private companies in Canada. So we are certainly delighted that they have chosen to come to East Point."

"Our new store at East Point will be excellent," said Bob Christie, senior vice-president of real estate and business development at Toronto-based Grafton-Fraser. "It will allow us to provide customers with better service and wider selection because, today, men expect a lot more from their wardrobe. They want fit, variety, versatility and most of all, they want their clothes to feel comfortable and look great.

"Our new store at East Point, featuring our Big & Tall selection, will provide more choice and value to our customers," he added. "We believe that it's all about the experience, so we strive to provide an exceptional assortment of product so that any Big & Tall customer will find it easy in finding the right fit."

Christie said he liked the visibility and easy access of the new store.

"This is a beautiful retail development with lots of lots more retail coming here in the near future," he said, "and it is so refreshing to see the construction activity and optimism that is happening in Saint John."

Mr. Big & Tall and Tip Top Tailors may be the latest attraction to East Point Shopping, which includes a variety of other fashion outlets, but Northrup is promising it won't be the last.

He said people should stay tuned for more announcements.

Only last week, he announced that May 27 would be the much-anticipated opening date for Atlantic Canada's largest Costco store. Other locations on site include Indigo Books & Music, Home Depot, Starbucks and Nakai Spa Salon Studio.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Clearly Moore's didn't have an exclusive contract to be the only men's suit shop at East Point. Still, I wonder what they think of this. Does this become a suit hub, or is this going to be too much competition in one area?

[michael_d40]

Originally Posted by PersonPlaceorThing

Clearly Moore's didn't have an exclusive contract to be the only men's suit shop at East Point. Still, I wonder what they think of this. Does this become a suit hub, or is this going to be too much competition in one area?

I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's no different than when they were both in McAllister Place... How quickly people forget eh?

[PersonPlaceorThing]

Originally Posted by michael_d40

I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's no different than when they were both in McAllister Place... How quickly people forget eh?

As to remembering...

I wonder what McAllister Place's owners will do with the old Moore's location. That end of the mall is pretty (maybe, totally) empty now. I think they could tear that down, buy the land at the Corner of Westmorland and McAllister and compete for big box stores on that land (assuming the brook that seperates the parking lot from the empty lot can be crossed).

[michael_d40]

Originally Posted by PersonPlaceorThing

As to remembering...

I wonder what McAllister Place's owners will do with the old Moore's location. That end of the mall is pretty (maybe, totally) empty now. I think they could tear that down, buy the land at the Corner of Westmorland and McAllister and compete for big box stores on that land (assuming the brook that seperates the parking lot from the empty lot can be crossed).

That's a pretty decent idea... I heard rumours of St Huberts going into the old Mikes location though.. Not sure if that has any substance to it. But there does seem to be a lot of work going into the old Mikes and Buck or Two locations... Then Sobeys wanted to build a store on that corner you are talking about but when they found out Sobeys was interested that land shot up to over 1 million so they decided just to renovate their current store instead.... I seen the proposed plan for it at the time and you were able to cross the parking lot... So who knows... Maybe we might see new box stores going in that area soon eh?

[dhottawa729]

Originally Posted by PersonPlaceorThing

As to remembering...

I wonder what McAllister Place's owners will do with the old Moore's location. That end of the mall is pretty (maybe, totally) empty now. I think they could tear that down, buy the land at the Corner of Westmorland and McAllister and compete for big box stores on that land (assuming the brook that seperates the parking lot from the empty lot can be crossed).

Ughhhh... I hate this box store trend. It doesn't make any sense to me. It's like the urban sprawl of shopping. Why can't retail developers design their box store developments to be more pedestrian friendly rather than 100% auto-oriented. The handy thing with box stores as opposed to a mall is that you can park directly in front of the store you want to shop at. This creates a very unpleasant environment for someone who wants to visit multiple stores. They could at lease provide landscaped pedestrian paths between buildings.

I don't know why more developers like SmartCentres, for example, don't configure their sites to get the best of both worlds: large format stores with easy access, and pleasant pedestrian environment providing synergy among retailers to get the customer to stay a while and shop multiple stores within the development. This could be easily done by clustering a few of the buildings but provide a front and back entrance to each store. The back would face the parking lot and serve the one-time shoppers and the front would allow for an outdoor mall-like experience. I've illustrated this concept below. This has been done in Ottawa at the Kanata Centrum. In fact, a movie theatre anchors this outdoor mall and when a movie finishes, you have a flood of people exiting making the strip very lively and supportive of restaurants with patios (see second image below).

[michael_d40]

Originally Posted by dhottawa729

Ughhhh... I hate this box store trend. It doesn't make any sense to me. It's like the urban sprawl of shopping. Why can't retail developers design their box store developments to be more pedestrian friendly rather than 100% auto-oriented. The handy thing with box stores as opposed to a mall is that you can park directly in front of the store you want to shop at. This creates a very unpleasant environment for someone who wants to visit multiple stores. They could at lease provide landscaped pedestrian paths between buildings.

I don't know why more developers like SmartCentres, for example, don't configure their sites to get the best of both worlds: large format stores with easy access, and pleasant pedestrian environment providing synergy among retailers to get the customer to stay a while and shop multiple stores within the development. This could be easily done by clustering a few of the buildings but provide a front and back entrance to each store. The back would face the parking lot and serve the one-time shoppers and the front would allow for an outdoor mall-like experience. I've illustrated this concept below. This has been done in Ottawa at the Kanata Centrum. In fact, a movie theatre anchors this outdoor mall and when a movie finishes, you have a flood of people exiting making the strip very lively and supportive of restaurants with patios (see second image below).

For box retailers, I feel Eastpoint kind of got it right. But still room for a lot of improvement. This retail area outside of Montreal is very unique and I think they did a great job in condensing retailers into one and making it pedestrian friendly. Take a look at the google streetview...

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...227.01,,0,0.11

Mind you something of that size would be difficult in Saint John.. We really don't have a lot of flat open viable space to do something like that. Kind of need to work with what we got eh?

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by michael_d40

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...227.01,,0,0.11

Mind you something of that size would be difficult in Saint John.. We really don't have a lot of flat open viable space to do something like that. Kind of need to work with what we got eh?

That is one sexy shopping area.

[Gnarly]

It's interesting that we now have come full circle.....this is what Uptown Saint John used to look like! .... most town or city's had a business area like this.

[Fischbob]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

That is one sexy shopping area.

Though taking the macro view of Dix30 and lifestyle centres in general, it's just the same old auto-centric commercial stuff on the urban periphery... but with an outdoor promenade. And all the larger-scale stores like Maxi & Cie (a [Loblaws] grocery chain), Wal-Mart and Rona are just as island-like as they would be in any other suburban area (arguably even more separated than they would be at a traditional indoor mall). Then again, what can they do? Obviously nobody's going to walk their groceries home from a development like this in a location like this.

http://www.quartierdix30.com/images/plan.pdf

[michael_d40]

Quite the turnout at the first day of the Costco job fair... And they say that traffic wont be a problem. If the line is like that just for applying, imagine when car loads of families start showing up to shop....

[kwajo]

Biggest CostCo in Atlantic Canada and they make people wait outside in the cold? Ouch.

[RaginRonic]

Hi. I'm a first time poster here, but also a long time surfer into this forum. =)

I used to be a Saint John resident, but some events last year changed my residency to Ontario. I will confess that there's a few things that have happened in Saint John since my move that I've missed out on, and I'm hoping to clear up some mysteries in my mind of how some things have changed in the Port City, and would like to lay out some things here I'm hoping to find out about.

The first thing is what had happened at McAllister Place in regards to their renovations. I've only seen some small pics of what the interior looks like, but am hoping to see some larger pics of the inside of the shopping centre, so I can figure it all out a bit better. The points inside that I'm referring to are:

1] The mall end of the hallway leading from Sobeys(both ends)
2] The hallway that begins in front of American Eagle Outfitters
3] The way to the McAllister Place exit between Le Chateau and Children's Place
4] The way to the exit between Bluenotes and Please Mum
5] The front of The Eatery
6] All 3 directions of the mall in front of the mall entrance to Zellers
7] Looking toward Zellers from the mall's Main Entrance
8] Looking towards Toys R' Us from the old New York Fries
9] Looking towards Le Chateau from Unic
10] Looking towards The Telephone Booth from near Java Moose
11] Looking towards The Source from near Le Chateau
12] Looking towards Maritime Travel from near The Telephone Booth
13] Looking toward The Source from Maritime Travel
14] Looking toward Maritime Travel from The Source
15] Looking toward Sears from just outside Showcase
16] Looking toward Sears from just outside Crescent Jewellers
17] Looking towards Crescent Jewellers from Sears mall entry
18] Looking towards Showcase from Sears mall entry
19] 180 degrees opposite for the above viewing points(except 15 to 18)
and 20] Various angles of the new Saint John Transit bus terminal in front of Sobeys outside McAllister Place.

I'm also curious as to what kind of developments have occurred around East Point Shopping since I left back last May, in terms of land removal there, and what it looks like now from all angles?

I'm also wondering what the new Fairville Boulevard Plaza looks like from eye level. I saw part of what it looks like on Google StreetView, but the shot wasn't clear enough, I guess. =S

And the last thing I'm a bit curious about is what the Saint John Transit routes look like since their 1st big overhaul in 15 years occurred last year, and if anyone here would be willing to get some video footage of parts of those routes, like the 1/2 Route travelling to that new Fairville Boulevard Plaza and travelling around the East Saint John Mall District. I have seen the route maps for that area, but the way it's drawn up on both the western and eastern edges has me a bit perplexed, especially near Parkway Mall.

Well, that's my 1st post here. Just hoping it can garner some nice pics and videos.

Take care, k? =)

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by kwajo

Biggest CostCo in Atlantic Canada and they make people wait outside in the cold? Ouch.

I was in that line, only later when they weren't outside.

In all fairness, later on in the day they were giving us water followed by sandwiches and muffins, because we had been standing in line for hours

[Wishblade]

The fact that that many people showed up for a job at Costco probably says something about the job market. It's a shame that the refinery and HQ projects have been shelved, and this is showing why.