The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[SJTOKO]

Hey everyone, Saint John's wikipedia page is in desperate need of help. I just added all of Saint John's MLB players to the list of notable citizens. Did you know we had nine? That's a lot for a city like Saint John. Something to be proud of. Anyway let's see if we can fix it up. Does anyone have some good photo's?

[manhattan08]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

Has anything been released in regards to how they will be expanding the T&CC?

For one, I can't remember which one, but either the Marco Polo room or the other large Loyalist room is going to be able to be divided into smaller breakout boardrooms, the washrooms where they are now are being moved and smaller boardrooms are going in there, and then the sales office is moving down into the underground pedway that connects the Hilton to Market Square.

Also on another note, I work for the Hilton and our revenue numbers for last year was released a few weeks ago and we were predicting around 1,000,000 in profit but we actually made around 2,500,000! I know this really has nothing to do with the Saint John building thread but were planning on hopefully renovating both for our restaurants (Turn of the Tide, and the Brigantine Lounge), another floor (which will leave with us with three floors left) and the insides of the elevators.

[MonctonRad]

I would say that this info is not off topic at all! Congratulations.......it just goes to show that high quality hotels in the Maritimes can do very well. I've never tried the restaurants in your hotel but maybe sometime I will!

[manhattan08]

Originally Posted by manhattan08

For one, I can't remember which one, but either the Marco Polo room or the other large Loyalist room is going to be able to be divided into smaller breakout boardrooms, the washrooms where they are now are being moved and smaller boardrooms are going in there, and then the sales office is moving down into the underground pedway that connects the Hilton to Market Square.

Also on another note, I work for the Hilton and our revenue numbers for last year was released a few weeks ago and we were predicting around 1,000,000 in profit but we actually made around 2,500,000! I know this really has nothing to do with the Saint John building thread but were planning on hopefully renovating both for our restaurants (Turn of the Tide, and the Brigantine Lounge), another floor (which will leave with us with three floors left) and the insides of the elevators.

I guess I should correct myself, 2,500,000 in Revenue and not profit.

[Joe]

Breaking ground. From this mornings TJ


SAINT JOHN - Work has begun on the estimated $55-million provincial courthouse in the city centre.

Enlarge Photo Cindy Wilson/Telegraph-JournalExcavation work has started on the provincial courthouse to be built across from the Saint John Arts Centre on Hazen Avenue. On Monday, two excavators were parked at the Hazen Avenue site, with a large hole dug on the bluff overlooking Harbour Station and the throughway.

Bird Construction had erected a large sign, and a Rideau Construction pickup truck was parked nearby. Bird, one of the top 10 contractors in Canada, recently bought out Rideau and goes by the name Bird/Rideau Construction.

Durck deWinter, the branch manager for the firm in Saint John, confirmed that his team had won the $6.4-million contract for the project's first phase.

"The first phase is civil work, foundations and structural steel," he explained on Monday. "That will take until late fall. This is just setting the stage up for the work to come."

DeWinter said there were a number of challenges to the job. A lot of bedrock has to be removed to allow the pouring of concrete and the addition of 100,000 square feet of foam.

"The site has a no-blast zone. A lot of it is fractured rock, so it will have to come out through large excavating gear, and the last part of it, about 200,000 cubic metres of it, will be removed through the old-fashioned method, with a rock hammer," he said. "It sounds like a large jack hammer."

Much of the steelwork for the multi-storey building will be high above the ground, posing additional challenges for work crews.

DeWinter said it was too early to say if Bird/Rideau Construction would bid on the second phase of the lucrative project.

"We'll look at it when it comes out, but it depends on the timing of it and the workload we have on hand."

Located on the site of the former Saint John YMCA-YWCA, the courthouse will be the province's biggest building project in the city in years. At more than 150,000 square feet, the complex has been designed by Murdock & Boyd Architects to be modern and energy efficient. It will include 13 courtrooms, a barristers' lounge, and office space for judges, court services, Crown prosecutors, sheriff services, Department of Public Safety personnel and police.

The building is supposed to be connected to a new $28-million city police headquarters across the street via an underground tunnel, with the two facilities sharing a lockup. All part of the Peel Plaza justice complex, the development also includes a $17-million city parking garage on Carleton Street and a public park surrounding the Carnegie Building's Saint John Arts Centre.

However, common council still needs to take a final vote on the city's end of the costly project. The politicians are supposed to decide by the end of this month.

Sheri Strictland, a spokeswoman for the Department of Supply and Services, said an official announcement about the development would be released soon.

"It's great to have new infrastructure built in the city," she said Monday. "It gives the city new investments to look forward to, and it's great for the Saint John region."

[kwajo]

Great to see work starting on the Justice Complex. Whether or not Peel Plaza gets built, it'll be nice to have a new building in our skyline, particularly in a prominent place like this (ie. atop a hill overlooking the throughway). I imagine Vito's is frothing at the mouth over the potential for new customers.

[SJTOKO]

Originally Posted by kwajo

Great to see work starting on the Justice Complex. Whether or not Peel Plaza gets built, it'll be nice to have a new building in our skyline, particularly in a prominent place like this (ie. atop a hill overlooking the throughway). I imagine Vito's is frothing at the mouth over the potential for new customers.

So the parking garage is being built now too? Everything accept for the police station? Someone fill me in.

[Joe]

I think the parking garage was part of a deal with the province, it has to be built. There has been no vote on the police station. That wll be at the end of the month as stated in the article.

[Helladog]

I wonder if the design needed to be modified to both tie in with the police station or to stand alone if necessary. Of course the garage will be built; it is required, as is a bathroom for a restaurant.

[Dmajackson]

^So fill us outsiders in. How big is this project going to be (ie floors, sq foot, ect)?

[kwajo]

Bedford: The courthouse is on a hillside, so I believe it'll appear as only 3 or 4 floors from the street, but from the other side (facing the throughway and Harbour Bridge) it will be 6 or 7. Not sure on square footage, but it's probably in one of the media articles from the past few months if someone cares to dig it up.

Also, there is an article in the TJ this morning about the Hardman Group's Coast Guard site project and how the long negotiation period is dampening their resolve on the project a bit. It might all be smoke and mirrors to get negotiations moving, but if we lose this project it will be a huge lost opportunity for the city. The Coast Guard site plan of retail, office space, a condo tower and a new hotel is exactly what we need on our waterfront, I'd hate to lose this just like we lost the Irving HQ.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by kwajo

The Coast Guard site plan of retail, office space, a condo tower and a new hotel is exactly what we need on our waterfront

Exactly.

I'm assuming they will be tying in the Justice Complex with the existing Pedway system that goes by there? Say, connecting it where the Tile Mile exists currently, or bring it through where the Mercantile Centre connects to the Pedway, creating one large pedway intersection?

[Helladog]

Street view



View from viaduct

[Dmajackson]

If it will appear to be 7 floors from the backside I'll pull a Maritime favour and list it as Saint John's tallest U/C since it might bump you up a couple of spots.

[nwalbert]

Wow! I didn't realize how big the courthouse is going to be. Cool!

Now I am even more convinced that we don't need Peel Plaza. I would like to think that Council will listen to the will of the people, but I am not optimistic.

[JHikka]

That justice complex looks massive. I kinda like it.

Originally Posted by CHSJ News

Adding another 35 million dollars worth of debt on the Harbour Bridge doesn't make sense to Provincial Conservative Leader David Alward who was in town last night for the party's nomination meeting in East Saint John. Alward tells CHSJ News the repairs should be jointly paid for by the provincial and federal governments but then looking beyond that he says the bridge should become part of Highway One with the federal government writing off the 22 million dollar debt and removing the tolls. Alward is also proposing a three per cent cap on property assessments until a long term solution is found to the escalating tax bills for homeowners. He charges the Graham Government botched the issue by not consulting with the municipalities.

I can't underline enough how much I agree with that statement. Pretty sure the tolls on that bridge cost more to operate than what they bring in and they should just be gotten rid of.

[JHikka]

Double postinnnnnn'!

Originally Posted by CHSJ News

The idea of setting up a grocery store to serve people who live in the uptown and south end has been given a boost with completion of the feasibility study. Mark Leger of the steering committee tells CHSJ News Co-Op Atlantic is still very much interested in making it something more than just a place to buy food. Ideas such as a wellness clinic being attached as well, a drug store and even a community kitchen where people could go to learn about how to cook nutritious meals have been tossed about.
Leger warns it sometimes will take as long as 3 years to get a store operating. The effort has been going on now for a year. There has not been a supermarket in the south-central peninsula ever since the I-G-A shut down and was replaced in Prince Edward Square Mall with Giant Tiger.

http://news.country94.ca/

Personally, if they are going to add a Grocery Store to the peninsula, they have to have it in the South End rather than Uptown. I dislike the location of Prince Edward Square greatly, because it's out of the way if you're walking uptown and it seems cut-off from the rest of the Uptown Core. I think if they want to build a South End Grocery Store, it should go in the South End.

I know that they're not implying that the new store wouldn't be going in PES, but that would seem like a logical place to put one I suppose. I can't imagine where else they would put a Grocery Store in the South End without removing some existing property. Perhaps throw it down on Lower Cove Loop somewhere?

[kirjtc2]

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_...g5X87bM7kZ2qmXwrr7w&cbp=12,38.85,,0,8.05

Wasn't this a grocery store at one point? Wonder what it would take to kick out the existing tenants.

[Helladog]

If you tear down the old Paramount and the Eider Rock offices, you have a good spot for a store; but that would be prime real estate for future offices.

[kwajo]

To me finding a location isn't an issue at all, there are tons of derelict or vacant lots in the South End, or building it down by the Barrack Green would be a fine option as well