Published Saturday January 13th, 2007
Appeared on page C1/C2
One Mile miles away
John Mazerolle
Telegraph-Journal
Negotiations into a proposed East Side interchange that would re-route heavy traffic from the uptown and improve the flow of goods in and out of the city are no further along than they were last summer, the MLA for Saint John East says.
"We haven't acquired the land," Roly MacIntyre said. "We're not ready to go."
In June, Department of Transportation spokeswoman Tracey Burkhardt said about 40 per cent of the land needed for the One Mile House interchange was under discussion, with 60 per cent already settled. MacIntyre said Thursday that's still the case.
The land - owned by an undisclosed private company - is a necessary piece of the puzzle, but the province still does not want to expropriate it because of the potential two-year length and cost of any court challenge.
"Expropriations for the government is a last resort because then you get into court and appeals," he said. "Very expensive."
The $35-million to $40-million route would help divert heavy truck traffic away from city streets such as Rothesay Avenue, Loch Lomond Road and Water Street.
As it stands, trucks travelling from the west to the industrial areas on the city's East Side must take the Market Square exit off the Harbour Bridge and travel around the Lower Cove Loop. Trucks travelling from the east use Rothesay Avenue.
A new interchange will also make it easier for trucks to access the industrial parks in East Saint John and faster for vehicles coming from the west to get the shopping centres off Westmorland Road, improving overall traffic flows.
The city has anticipated having an exit to the East Side since the throughway was built about 25 years ago. It was the primary recommendation of a 1999 transportation study, with the ability to divert more than 36,000 vehicles a day from city streets and residential neighbourhoods.
Bob Manning, chair of the Saint John Board of Trade, said he understands the project is slated to be completed by 2011.
While he's happy the province and the city both want to get the route completed, he hopes they'll employ a "hurry-up offence" to get the deal done more quickly so that the interchange enhances the city's "economic agenda" as new projects are worked on, especially a proposed second oil refinery.
"Has the premier picked up the phone to ask the CEO of that company, "We really need that land. What can we do to help you?" he said.
MacIntyre said he recognizes how important the project is, but he doesn't feel the project has hit a wall yet. He says the route has "issues galore" that need to be worked out before any construction could begin, including nearby railway tracks, underground pipe work, and the environmental impact on Marsh Creek.
He said about $2 million has gone into design work so far.
While he hasn't been privy to the negotiations between the company and the provincial government, MacIntyre said it's his understanding the most recent meetings left the government more optimistic that a deal will be worked out.
"I don't have any frustration so far," MacIntyre said. "Keep in mind we've only been in government for three months."
MacIntyre would not disclose which company is unwilling to part with its land, but the plans unveiled in 2005 showed that the Atlantic Superstore and Staples Business Depot on Rothesay Avenue would lose parking spots, while Tim Hortons would lose part of its drive through. No homes would be affected under the plan.
The proposed route comes off the throughway near the southern end of Rockwood Park, runs along Marsh Creek, parallel to Russell Street, toward Bayside Drive and connects to Loch Lomond Road.
It includes a new street between Rothesay Avenue and Russell Street, which would cut through the Superstore and Staples parking lots.
Russell Street would become a one-way to avoid bringing a lot of traffic into a residential area, but the adjacent area would be widened, cutting into the Tim Hortons drive-through. Atlantic Avenue would become a cul de sac.
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Published Friday January 12th, 2007
Appeared on page C1
Architects restore upper floor
daniel mark wheaton
telegraph-journal
Greg Murdock and Malcolm Boyd love going to work each day in their new office space in uptown Saint John.
Murdock & Boyd Architects moved into the historic building at 50 King St. in July.
The second-storey space had been abandoned for years, but it was just what the two architects were looking for.
"Greg and I have been looking for a historic building for probably five years," Boyd said.
They looked at several buildings before they stumbled across what was to them the ideal diamond in the rough.
It was a long, narrow space divided in the centre by a load-bearing wall. A thick layer of dirt on the windows at the front and rear prevented good light from entering the space.
Bare electrical wires ran to porcelain light fixtures.
A heavy fire door once provided access to the building next to it, an old bookstore.
A square hole in the floor and one in the ceiling, with a suspended block and pulley on the third floor, at one time allowed merchants on the first floor to move stock between the ground level and warehouse space above.
For years, vendors below sold paint, wallpaper, carpet and other floor coverings on the street level.
Walls divided the second-storey space into small offices.
It looked like a mess. But to Boyd, it was just what he and his partner had been looking for.
"As architects, we can visualize what the potential is."
Other than the one wall running lengthways through the centre, the partitions that created cookie-cutter offices could be removed, Boyd said.
"It was more or less open. A lot of these buildings are full of apartments or cut up with walls."
The pair had come across the space when the building's owner, Darcy Murphy, asked for their help in deciding how to design his new Tim Hortons on the main floor.
"He wanted some assistance in laying out the space," Boyd said.
Murphy wanted advice on where to put stairs and how to set things up for potential tenants on the upper floors.
Boyd looked the space over and realized he'd found something.
"So I told my partner, 'Greg,' I said, 'You've got to come over and see this space because I think this might be it'."
And so their project began.
"We probably did more demolition than we did construction," Boyd said.
"We took out partitions, we took off lath and plaster and ceilings, to expose all the brick and expose all the beams."
Murdock and Boyd aren't the only developers of upper-level space in uptown Saint John.
Down the street, CenterBeam Place is an entire block of old buildings with recently restored upper levels, now home to offices and businesses throughout its 100,000 square feet of upper-floor space.
But that project, taken on by the Irving family's Commercial Properties, didn't influence Murdock and Boyd's decision to move their operations to the uptown.
"We'd been looking. We saw the potential here years ago. We just had to get around to it. We just had to find the right space to do it," Boyd said.
He wants to see more upper-level revitalization.
"I think if more people see this space and realize the potential and that it doesn't take a lot of effort - I keep saying, we did more demolition than construction - people won't be scared away by it."
Mayor Norm McFarlane agrees. He toured the new office space during its grand opening Thursday.
"This is tremendous. More than I ever expected it to be. It should be a showcase we use to convince other businesses to use upper floors," McFarlane said.
The two architects didn't build many walls. A partition with open space above divides the reception area from the working studio.
Murdock and Boyd have their offices in the front, but they shared the light of the street-side windows by installing windows high on interior walls.
And they're not just any windows, Boyd said.
"Those windows came from the old Saint John opera house. The glass in those is a hundred years old."
They were in search of old windows and found a good source, who they prefer not to name.
"He said, come and get them, and he gave them to us. So we picked the pick of the litter and had them all sanded down."
If you move your head as you look through the panes, you can see the ripple in the old glass.
Boyd's office seems like a porch off the other rooms, decorated with live plants and a large "partner's desk" with leg room on both sides.
His floor is made of original hardwood that had been covered by four layers of other flooring.
Historic beams are exposed overhead - huge closely spaced floor joists made of rough timbers jointed with notches and wooden pins.
Boyd is proud of the solid brick walls in his office, too.
"I said, 'I want brick in my office. I want a brick wall.' I've said that for seven years."
Boyd is pleased to have done his part to restore the uptown.
"This building has now been rejuvenated," he said.
Murdock said the location is convenient for them.
"It's right downtown, right in the centre of commerce."
On the up and up
Other buildings in uptown Saint John that have recently undergone or are undergoing upper-level development projects:
CenterBeam Place, 14 King St.
The Bank of New Brunswick Building, Prince William Street
The Brodie Building, 42 Princess St.
The CHSJ/CHWV Building, 58 King St.
The Shaw Building, 86 King St.
The Gilbert McGloan Gillis Building, 22 King St.
The John Law Building, 89 Canterbury St.
The old Post Office Building, Prince William Street
The Revolution House Building, 89 Prince William St.
The Saint John News Building, 56 Canterbury St.
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