Plan to demolish Saint John heritage building stirs debate

The proposed demolition of an uptown Saint John heritage building, owned by J.D. Irving Ltd., is stirring cheers and jeers ahead of a final vote by city council.

The three properties, at 111-119 King Street East, are within the city’s heritage conservation area and adjacent to J.D. Irving headquarters.

J.D. Irving is asking the city to change the property’s heritage designation, allowing for demolition of an 81-year-old building on the corner of King Street East and Camarthen Streets.

The company says it plans to build a playground on the property and maintain it for 20 years.

Nobody from J.D. Irving was made available for an interview on Tuesday. In a written statement, the company says it plans to release a revised version of its proposal by the end of this week.

Resident Sara Stashick says a change in the property’s heritage designation “could set a pretty disturbing precedent, demolition by willful neglect.”

“If this is successful, then this is something that could whittle away at the protections that we have on the heritage properties in our city.”

In a statement, J.D. Irving Ltd. says repairing the building “is not feasible” due the “presence of mold and other toxins.”

Stashick is the organizer of a protest scheduled outside the boarded up building on Tuesday night. Stashick says J.D. Irving’s pledge to build a playground comes with a clause allowing it to change plans if vandalism became a concern.

Stashick calls it an “easy-out” for the company.

“The problem is that what they’re asking for is to have the heritage designation removed completely,” says Stashick. “It means whatever gets built there in the future isn’t required to meet the standards set out in the heritage bylaw.”

Bob McVicar, a long-time realtor in Saint John, supports the proposal from J.D. Irving.

“They haven’t broken any rules, they don’t intend to break any rules, but they also don’t intend to repair the building and there’s no rules that say they have to,” says McVicar. “So we can make a decision and move along and have a nice investment on the corner and improve the neighbourhood, and support a major presence in our neighborhood which is a huge employer. Or we can say no to it, and let it sit there, the eyesore it is, for as many years as it takes for it to fall down, burn down, or somebody gets hurt.”

A discussion at last month’s council meeting produced a close vote of 5-4, allowing for the proposal to move toward a third and final reading. J.D. Irving’s request for the three properties to be removed from the heritage conservation area has already been turned down by the city’s Heritage Preservation Board.

“We’re not going to keep everybody happy,” said Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon at the July 11 council meeting. “I’m a big supporter of heritage, I’ve spent a lot of money on it over the last 37 years in the uptown. But that’s not to say I don’t see the flipside of this coin as well, moving the neighbourhood forward.”