NORTH OF UNION
Building: Public consultations will help shape what is being hailed as a “once-in-a-lifetime” project
Above is a conceptual drawing showing part of the proposed police headquarters. No final designs will be decided until public consultations are complete, say city staff.
John Mazerolle
Telegraph-Journal
Published Saturday January 19th, 2008
Appeared on page B1
SAINT JOHN - At certain times, Coun. Chris Titus seems incapable of uttering a sentence without being emphatic, punching his words and slicing the air with his hands. When the Crown prosecutor discusses the police-justice complex north of Union Street, it's one of those times.
"This is going to be a beautiful project," he said - emphatically, of course - as he walked the area near Union Street recently, stressing that a large portion of the proposed site of the police-justice complex is little more than surface parking.
When the detailed public consultation process is released at Monday's council meeting, the importance and benefits of the complex will no doubt be stressed often.
And Titus won't be the only one speaking passionately.
The $100-million project has elicited all kinds of strong reactions from politicians and citizens over the last two months. The planned police headquarters, provincial justice building, parking garage and public green space have caused concern because the site from Hazen Avenue to Wellington Row is home to some of Saint John's oldest and most historic buildings.
Deputy Mayor Michelle Hooton and a number of community leaders have urged caution before any buildings are destroyed.
Meanwhile, members of the police-justice steering committee including Titus, Coun. Glen Tait and Mayor Norm McFarlane have stressed the importance and benefits of the project, as has police commission member Coun. Ivan Court.
Not that each side is mutually exclusive. Hooton stresses that the conversation is really about bringing together development and heritage as successfully as possible.
And for all the controversy that has surrounded the project recently, the language used by the complex's strongest proponents is strikingly similar to that used by heritage advocates and other concerned citizens. Both sides speak of the nearly unprecedented spending of public money, the "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" it represents, and the need to create a development that the entire city can be proud of.
Regardless of how the buildings are placed, it's been stated repeatedly that a new police headquarters, a new justice complex, and more uptown parking are all gravely needed. Here are the details:
POLICE HEADQUARTERS
A new home for the Saint John Police Force has been discussed for decades.
Several studies have said the police force's existing location in the city hall building is inadequate. It is not visible or accessible enough, is not designed to fit the needs of female officers, and leaves the force divided on multiple floors.
Public services and force morale will improve in a new station, police have said, and victims and suspects will be kept separate.
The first planned location for the building was the same block as the Saint John Arts Centre, running north-south, but the most recent plan discussed at council had the building crossing over Peel Street east-west, in the vicinity of the Shaarei Zedek synagogue.
A conceptual drawing included in the city's 2008 budget documents shows a sleek, roughly rectangular, and heavily windowed building. It appears to have two above-ground storeys.
Keeping in line with the city's arts and culture policy, one per cent of the costs - in this case, about $200,000 - will be spent buying art for the building.
PROVINCIAL JUSTICE BUILDING
Like the police headquarters, the justice building had been discussed for at least 20 years. The long-awaited announcement that the $47-million courthouse will be built was finally made last month.
The building is meant to increase security while amalgamating three often-inadequate courthouses spread throughout the uptown. It will also accommodate the eventual closures of courts in Hampton and Sussex.
The courthouse will be 11,655 square metres, with 13 courtrooms and office space for the judiciary, court services, public prosecutions, the Barristers Society, sheriff services, Public Safety, and policing.
The conceptual designs, by Murdock Boyd Architects, impressed the crowd of lawyers and politicians at the December news conference, with a design that includes columns and a staircase in front, lots of windows, and an angular design that still manages to avoid boxiness.
The interior design stresses safety - the public, the accused and the judiciary won't cross paths until they meet in the courtroom - but the three-storey lobby will be flexible enough to act as a public space for ceremonies.
While the province has committed to construction, cost-sharing deals with the city over parking, holding cells, or the underground corridor that will connect the building have not been hammered out yet.
PARKING GARAGE
Estimates about the number of parking spaces needed for the development are between 400 and 500, and a study by a Toronto firm released in March 2006 said the city needed to build four multi-million dollar parking garages in the uptown over the next 15 years - all at a potential cost of $54 million.
The original plan was to place the parking garage between Carleton Street and Sewell Street, but the latest design discussed around the council table had it flush with Union Street.
GREEN SPACE
Council has said since the beginning that they hoped this project will be a welcoming place that will attract people and businesses to the area.
As Titus said in April: "We thought it can be more than just a police building no one can get particularly excited about, a justice building no one can get particularly excited about, and a standalone parking garage no one can get particularly excited about."
With that in mind a park-planning firm was hired to develop the design for a public plaza.
Deputy city manager Pat Woods said Thursday that, before public consultations begin, the city will provide the public with a complete conceptual overview of the site, bringing together the work of Murdock & Boyd Architects (justice building), DFS architects (police station), Daniel K. Glenn Ltd. (green space), and TOSS Solutions In. (plan coordination).
He said that information should be available either next or the following week. No designs have been done yet on a parking garage, and no private developers have been approached for any complementary development, he said.
Woods said some details of the development can't be changed - for instance, for safety reasons there will be no pedway connection from the mall to the justice complex. But he said the city will be willing to discuss any suggestions with the public.
"We want your ideas, we want your feedback, whatever they may be," Woods said. "What do they see for the neighbourhood? What do they see in the long-term? And all of that information will come back before council. The most important thing for us is to get as much public input as possible."
North of Union
Friday Public consultations are starting to come into focus
Today The police-justice complex will be a “beautiful project,” proponents say
Monday A look at the historic buildings that could face the wrecking ball
Tuesday The city rolls out its plan on getting input from Saint Johners
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