Moncton High makes danger list
Published Wednesday July 8th, 2009
Heritage Canada Foundation adds 'magnificent sandstone landmark' to its Top 10 list of endangered heritage sites
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By Brent Mazerolle
Times & Transcript Staff
First Moncton had one of Canada's 10 most endangered rivers. Now added to that dubious distinction we have one of the nation's 10 most endangered heritage sites.
Greg Agnew
Moncton High School has been named one of Canada’s Top 10 Most Endangered Places by the Heritage Canada Foundation.
But while New Brunswick's provincial Liberal government has acted decisively to save the Petitcodiac River, the jury's still out on the future of Moncton High School.
And that's a shame, says the Heritage Canada Foundation, which has included the endangered, "magnificent sandstone landmark," on its 2009 Top Ten Endangered Places List.
Moncton East MLA Chris Collins, whose riding includes the 75-year-old school, said yesterday, "it's ridiculously premature to call it endangered" but welcomed the attention as a means of helping him and fellow area Liberal MLAs ensure one of Moncton's greatest architectural jewels is preserved.
"To have a federal organization like this come forward encourages me. That might help us source federal dollars," he said.
Collins suggested the national attention could even help get the school a formal designation as a federal heritage site, which could help it be protected. Currently it has a municipal heritage designation, but not a provincial or federal one.
And, ironically enough, though it is New Brunswick's provincial Heritage Act that enables the City of Moncton to declare it a heritage property, the province itself is exempt from the heritage bylaw. It could, in fact, legally bulldoze Moncton High School into the ground today if it so chose, with no explanations necessary other than the political ones the public would demand.
The Heritage Canada Foundation does have a profile that would merit federal government attention. It is a national non-profit organization founded by the Trudeau government in 1973 under the ministerial leadership of Jean Chrétien.
Its mandate is to, "preserve and demonstrate and to encourage the preservation and demonstration of the nationally significant historic, architectural, natural and scenic heritage of Canada with a view to stimulating and promoting the interest of the people of Canada in that heritage."
The Foundation says of Moncton High, "the future of this landmark building -- an outstanding example of Normandy Gothic Revival style architecture in New Brunswick -- is at risk due to the province's lack of commitment to maintain and invest in existing schools."
The foundation argues the building matters because, "it is considered to be one of the most important architectural landmarks in downtown Moncton and a symbol of permanence in the city."
The citation accompanying the addition of Moncton High School to the list notes, "the $25-million cost estimate for a new school does not include many elements that exist at MHS, such as the auditorium. Economics aside, the environmental impact of abandoning this building and replacing it with a new structure would be staggering."
The decision about the future of Moncton High rests with the province, but Moncton City Council has come out firmly on the side of protecting and preserving the structure.
Its Heritage Preservation Review Board hired Jim Bezanson, a professional planner and architectural consultant, to review the findings of the studies commissioned by the province on the structural condition of the high school and Bezanson questions the extent of the costly structural changes recommended.
His findings were presented to the District Education Council and School District 2 in June. As a result, the district staff recommendations in favour of new construction presented to the DEC that evening have been removed from the table with an order to "go back to the drawing board."
Since then, the area Liberal MLAs have spoken up to oppose the demolition of the school and Collins insisted yesterday "there is no wrecking ball headed in that direction."
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Metro building permits climb to $17.8M
Published Wednesday July 8th, 2009
FREDERICTON - The value of building permits issued for Metro Moncton increased this spring.
New figures from Statistics Canada show the value of permits issued in May was $17.8 million, up from $16.4 million the previous month.
In January, the value of permits was roughly $10 million. That jumped to $68.8 million in February. The value of permits issued in both March and April was $16.4 million. In comparison, the value of permits issued in May for Saint John was $16.4 million, down from $39.7 million. Provincially, $73.1 million in building permits were issued in May, compared to $100.9 million in April.
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