LIFPA pulls out of plans for international French private school in Saint John
An international French school won’t be coming to Market Square in Saint John, N.B., after all.
Lycée International Français des Provinces Atlantiques (LIFPA) announced Tuesday they have abandoned the project due to financial reasons. A press releases states the total amount of construction work to complete the project is 50 per cent higher than what was first budgeted in January 2023, a cost LIFPA could not afford.
The school would have been the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada, with LIFPA saying they remain hopeful to bring a school to this part of the country and are currently exploring all possibilities.
“Everybody is pretty disappointed in the announcement,” says Saint John Deputy Mayor John MacKenzie. “We were looking forward to having that in the uptown area, but we will have to look forward now and put this behind us.”
MacKenzie expects the topic to come up at the next city council meeting. He says the city, along with Market Square and other community partners, will look to fill the vacant space as soon as possible.
With all the growth Saint John is currently experiencing, highlighted by the revamped public space outside of Market Square that will open this spring, MacKenzie doesn’t expect the space to be available for long.
“The city of Saint John is growing by leaps and bounds and we are a great place to invest,” says MacKenzie. “We have all kinds of people looking to invest in the city, so y’know, it’s not going to last long I suspect.”
Envision Saint John interim CEO Andrew Beckett also expects there to be a lot of interest in the space.
“It’s a great time to invest in Saint John,” he says. “We have waterfront development taking place with the Fundy Quay project, the extension of the harbour passage. We’ve got a vibrant urban core that’s got a real resiliency over the last couple of years. There is a lot of really good pieces that when you take to together with the increased traffic in the uptown area with some of the residential developments taking place, hopefully that’s going to provide the catalyst we need to get some of these spaces reimagine and reutilized in different ways.”
He shares the deputy mayor’s disappointment on the school no longer coming to the Port City, but he too is looking ahead rather than in the past.
“Our focus now turns to looking at how we can make use of the space that’s available in Market Square,” Beckett says. “Maybe it’s converting like Calgary and other places are doing in terms of looking at residential development in some of those areas, or we can carve up the space in other different ways to attract other business opportunities to it.”
Residents also have their opinion on what should go in the now vacant space. A casino was a popular wish for many in town, with others hoping for a farmers market or even an indoor play area for kids.
Whatever does end up going in the space, residents just want it to stick and stay.
“We’d like to see a viable business that is going to be able to pay rent and contribute to the city of Saint John go in there,” says resident Lisa Keenan. “I think it’s extremely important that the landlord and officials do their proper due diligence before a tenant signs a commitment for that space.”
The Hardman Group, which owns and operates Market Square, declined a request for comment.
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7011204.1724369588!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Railways prepare to restart after federal government forces binding arbitration in labour dispute
Canada's Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon is intervening to end a work stoppage that saw this country's two largest railways grind to a standstill Thursday, by forcing the parties into binding arbitration.
LIVE UPDATES Final day of the DNC: Kamala Harris to accept the party's nomination
On the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris is set to accept the party's nomination for president on Thursday.
Remains of missing Markham woman found in Parry Sound: police
York Regional Police say that human remains discovered in Parry Sound more than a week ago are those of a missing Markham woman. Yuk-Ying Anita Mui was first reported missing by her family on Aug. 9. Three days later on Aug. 12, OPP located burned human remains, which have since been confirmed to be those of Mui, police said.
Daryl Hall ends Vancouver concert after 3 songs; management says he has COVID
Rock icon and singer-songwriter Daryl Hall walked off stage after only three songs in Vancouver on Wednesday night, his set cut short due to an unspecified illness.
German warship blasts Darth Vader anthem in heart of London. 'No deeper message,' navy says
Germany's navy says there was 'no deeper message' in the choice to blast the famed Imperial March, Darth Vader's theme song in the 'Star Wars' films, from one of its warships as it cruised down the River Thames through London this week.
Bill Morneau: Canada needs to spend more on defence faster to make inroads with next U.S. administration
As the Canadian government seeks to make inroads with the next U.S. administration, former Liberal finance minister Bill Morneau says Canada needs to take U.S. security concerns seriously and accelerate the timeline by which Canada will hit NATO's defence spending obligation.
Toronto Zoo's red panda who gave surprise birth to two cubs in June dies
A 10-year-old female red panda who recently gave birth to two cubs at the Toronto Zoo in June has died.
CUPE Ontario president to continue to 'fight side by side' with union members amid calls to resign
CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn says he fully rejects 'the charge of antisemitism,' and said he will 'continue to fight side by side' with his union members despite calls for his resignation by the national executive board.
TikTok has fallen hard for yet another grocery store staple
How does a piece of produce go viral?