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Posted Mar 17, 2011, 12:17 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Grand Bay-Westfield :: NB
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U.S. college grid team to play here
Football: Contest seen as chance to promote city
Published Thursday March 17th, 2011
C1Peter McGuire
Telegraph-Journal
Barry Ogden is president and general manager of the UNB Saint John Seawolves. The team will host the Illinois College Blueboys on May 21. Barry Ogden, a long-time local recreation activist and president and general manager of the UNB Saint John Seawolves football team, was over the moon on Wednesday discussing plans for a visit from the Illinois College Blueboys this spring.
"This is a big, big opportunity for us to promote our city," Ogden said. "There's no stopping us once we get going."
The Blueboys will play the Seawolves on May 21 at 2 p.m. at the Canada Games Stadium on the UNBSJ campus in what is believed to be the first visit to Saint John by an American university team.
Ogden said this is an example of an event that will come to the city because of its facilities.
He added that if the Canada Games Stadium had not been refurbished last year, there's not much of a chance Illinois would have considered coming north.
The Blueboys are including Saint John on a sports/cultural tour that will also include a visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio and stops in New York and Boston.
"They decided to add another stop because they wanted a Canadian element and when you go due north of Boston, we are the closest Canadian university football team," Ogden said.
Illinois head coach Garrett Campbell contacted Ogden through email after visiting the Seawolves website and inquired about a possible game.
"I called right away, as soon as I got the email, and said I'm not sure how we'll do it but we'll figure it out," Ogden said. "It's a great opportunity for us and a great opportunity for the city."
Illinois College, which sits geographically between the Kentucky border, St. Louis and Chicago, is a prestigious school whose visitors and guest lecturers in the early days included Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Mark Twain.
According to the school's website, the best-known alumnus, William Jennings Bryan, class of 1881, was a three-time candidate for president of the United States, secretary of state and congressman.
Two graduates went on to become U.S. senators, 20 became congressmen, six were state governors and two currently serve as federal judges.
The Seawolves, who will be heading into their third season in the fall, will hold a spring camp to prepare for this one-off contest.
The Blueboys, who will arrive on a Friday and leave for home two days later, are expected to stay on campus and will be treated to a surf-and-turf barbecue at the Irving Nature Park. Ogden said the Saint John Ys Men are expected to help organize the barbecue.
Big-time football is not new to the city, which hosted a pair of CFL exhibition games in the mid-1980s. Both drew in the neighbourhood of 12,000 fans per game.
"This just shows that we should be going for big events of up to 20,000 people," Ogden said. "We'll be fine for this game (with capacity of between 6,500 and 10,000) but we'll need more seating for future events."
Ogden expects the event will require approximately 30 to 40 volunteers and those interested should call him 658-5911 or Seawolves vice-president Bruce Watts at 674-2747.
The teams will obviously be playing on a Canadian-size field, which is larger than the standard American gridiron. They'll also use Canadian rules with the one exception of four downs. There is also a difference in the ball used with an American football being smaller than its Canadian counterpart. Each team will use its own ball. It hasn't been decided whether or not teams will use 11 players aside or the Canadian version of 12 men aside.
Ticket prices have not been determined but Ogden said, "We'll be very cognizant of keeping it affordable. We want to promote, not just football, but recreation and the city itself."
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Peel Plaza taking shape
Development: Weather slows construction of police station phase of project
C1Peter Mcguire
Telegraph-Journal
Published Thursday March 17th, 2011
SAINT JOHN - If it were a race, it would be safe to say the police station portion of Peel Plaza has fallen off the pace.
"The contractor is not as far ahead as it would like to be," Bill Edwards said. "At this point in time, there is no revised completion schedule. They believe they can make up the time."
Pomerleau Inc., a Quebec-based construction company, was awarded the contract to build the police station and broke ground on the project in August 2010.
As far as the $20.6-million price tag, Edwards says there is no change, or at least, "nothing of note."
Pomerleau has been faced with the challenges of a near-record snowfall this winter as well as the co-ordination of roadwork in the construction area.
The police station is scheduled to be finished by the first of June 2012.
"We were doing great until the end of December," Edwards said. "January and February were pretty hard on the contractors. They lost more time than they had hoped but it's nothing insurmountable."
Meanwhile, there was a beehive of activity on Tuesday at the provincial justice complex portion of Peel Plaza.
From plumbers and roofers to the safety specialist and concrete finishers, crews were working away, keeping up their end of the bargain that is expected to see the project known as the Saint John Law Courts opened by September 2012.
The six-level complex with a price tag of $55 million is located on the property that was once home to the Saint John Y. It is expected to open in the fall of 2012 and will cover more than 150,000 square feet, including 13 courtrooms.
Work crews are busy leveling the gravel base of the first floor in preparation for the pouring of concrete today, weather permitting. The first floor will include 18 parking spots and a secure elevator for judges. It will also be home to such officials as parole officers and includes an emergency exit.
The second floor will house offices for the sheriff, deputy sheriff, visiting Crown prosecutors and social workers.
The complex will also include a tunnel to transfer prisoners back and forth from the holding cells at the police station to the courtrooms next door.
There are safety reminders everywhere you look, whether it be for helmets, steel-toe footwear, safety glasses or harnesses.
The third floor, which will be the main entrance, will have seven courtrooms and the fourth floor will have four courtrooms, all of which will handle large and standard trials.
The fifth floor will be equipped with two jury courtrooms, extra washrooms and jury deliberation rooms.
The sixth floor, along with part of the fifth, will house all things mechanical, from heating to ventilation and air conditioning.
On Tuesday, a handful of workers went about their business on the roof of the sixth floor, power tools humming against a backdrop of a brilliant blue sky and bright sun. Everywhere you looked, there was a familiar landmark, from the harbour itself, to Harbour Station, to church steeples off in the distance.
Looking straight down at Sewell and Station streets, across from Harbour Station, PCL Canada is busy moving the earth to make way for the $16.5-million parking garage. The 446-space structure is expected to be open by the first of June 2012.
The fourth component of Peel Plaza is a public plaza but a call for tenders for that $2-million job isn't expected to go out for approximately a year.
"Work won't begin until the bulk of construction is complete," Edwards said. "It will have public space but the particular elements have not been finalized, like sidewalks and chairs."
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Two new cruise lines coming to city this year
Published Thursday March 17th, 2011
C6
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
MSC Cruises and Oceania Cruise will also be stopping in the Port City this year. The announcement was made as representatives of the provincial government, Saint John Port Authority and travel industry attended Cruise Shipping Miami, the world's largest annual cruise trade show. The four-day event taking place in Miami, Fla., wraps up today.
"While in Miami, we are meeting with MSC Cruises and Oceania Cruises, and we are pleased that they have decided to make calls to the port of Saint John this summer," said Minister of Tourism and Parks Trevor Holder. "Additionally, we will meet with Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America, Carnival and Royal Caribbean. We are building on existing relationships with these lines, and we are also aggressively marketing New Brunswick and the port in Saint John for more stops in 2012." In 1998, about 25,000 passengers disembarked at the port of Saint John; in 2004 close to 140,000 passengers landed in the city; this number has grown steadily since then.
"MSC Cruises and Oceania Cruises have each booked two calls to our port during the fall of 2011, bringing an additional 10,000 passengers to Saint John, and we expect to build on this relationship over the coming years," Saint John Port Authority chairman Stephen Campbell said.
"They promote New Brunswick as a stop at the Bay of Fundy because this is, indeed, one of the most highly acclaimed natural attractions that passengers can experience through shore excursions," he said.
More than 70 ships are expected to dock in Saint John in 2011.
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