Residents look to repurpose Fredericton justice building

For nearly 100 years the justice building, and former Provincial Normal School has been a prominent feature in downtown Fredericton, N.B.

History enthusiasts are preparing for its next life, with a new justice building set to be built in the capital by 2025.

"It's on peoples' minds, that's the interesting thing, what's going to happen to that magnificent building and how can it best be used to the benefit of the community at large," said David Coon, MLA for Fredericton South.

The building has been in a state of decay for years. Coon wants to start discussions now about its future.

"I wanted to get ahead of the ball before the department of transportation and infrastructure, before the province starts looking at it and themselves really seriously, it's always better to be out ahead of time,” said Coon.

“We saw what happened with the centennial building and it's still sitting there empty and looking derelict.”

The building is a Canadian National Historic Site, as well as a Province of New Brunswick Heritage Site.

"To me it's a great opportunity, it's an opportunity to reimagine what's happening downtown,” said Jeremy Mouat, the President of Fredericton Heritage Trust.

“Repurposing old buildings downtown is something Fredericton does, it’s just how can one do it effectively, economically.”

For now, the focus is to find a new purpose for the building before it falls out of use.

"This type of building lends itself to any number of uses because it's been a public space, it's fully sprinkled, it has a lot of ways you can open up walls,” said Tom Morrison of Heritage Engineering.

“There's a lot of ways you can adjust things to take advantage of what's there."

No official plans have yet been made for the building. Coon is hosting a virtual panel discussion Wednesday evening and hoping his constituents will have ideas to preserve this historic landmark.

"Some people would like to see it become a hub for social enterprise in the community something that could house non-profits and community groups," said Coon.