Save North of Union

Saint John, NB City Council has secretly voted in favour of a project reminiscent of 1960's Urban Renewal which will apparently see two to four whole blocks of heritage buildings, bounded by Union, Hazen, Wellington Row and Carleton, and possibly beyond, demolished. This area is right in the Uptown area of Saint John, having survived the two desolating events that decimated neighbouring blocks in the City's history: the Great Fire of 1877 and the first round of Urban Renewal that brought us such architectural gems as Prince Edward Square and the parking structure behind City Hall after the demolition of most of the historic Chipman Hill street face south of Union. The blocks under threat today contain some of the oldest buildings in the City, as well as some significant century-old buildings such as Saint John Arts Centre (not apparently under threat of demolition, but whose heritage value may be negatively affected by an unsympathetic development) and the Jewish Historical Museum. None of the buildings affected have been granted heritage status in past official designation programs, but this does not make them any less significant to our City; it just means that the official designation program, still in its infancy in comparison with those in other cities, is far from comprehensive. The buildings at 7-19 Wellington Row which have been recognized by the Heritage Canada Foundation are apparently marked in the plans for demolition.


Saint John needs viable development options; however, they should not endanger the existing historical properties of Canada's oldest incorporated city. I believe that the proposed North of Union development should compliment and co-exist with - but not threaten - historic properties in the city center.