Train station blues | City tired of waiting

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By SHAWN BERRY, HEATHER MCLAUGHLIN
news@dailygleaner.com

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Negotiations between J.D. Irving and the NB Liquor Corp. are percolating, but Mayor Brad Woodside says it's time to fish or cut bait.

Woodside, who suggested he'd be just as happy as any Frederictonian to see the shabby York Street property fixed up, said if no deal can be reached, he's ready to head to Ottawa to convince the federal government to allow the structure to be demolished.

The Daily Gleaner has learned that discussions with the liquor corporation - which the newspaper reported on in mid-March - have reached a critical juncture.

NB Liquor officials were coy about the talks last spring and there was no update from the agency late Tuesday.

Train station owner J.D. Irving was equally disinclined to talk publicly about negotiations.

"Once again, we continue to pursue opportunities for a commercial development," said J.D. Irving communications spokesman Geoff Britt. "For confidentiality reasons, we are not able to comment on negotiations."

"It's something we'd be prepared to look at if it fit into our plan," Nora Lacey, communications manager for NB Liquor told the newspaper in mid-March about its interest in the train station.

"It seems to me that right now there are negotiations going on that are very close, and I am hopeful that this matter can be resolved," the mayor said Tuesday.

"Failing that, I am prepared to seek a legal opinion as to what the municipality can do to deal with this, and I am prepared to go to Ottawa and to present the city's case to the bureaucracy there because I don't feel that this city should have to tolerate this anymore.''

Built in 1923, the train station is considered an historic structure and is protected under federal heritage legislation. Buildings with such a designation can be torn down, but only with federal government approval.

Supporters of the train station were dubious that the building's roof, propped up by two-by-fours, would last another winter.

The roof is beginning to collapse. The derelict building has become a local eyesore and even some of the staunchest heritage buffs are ready to throw their hands up in despair.

Peter Pacey, past president of Fredericton Heritage Trust, has said if the station isn't fixed up soon, it should be torn down.

"I'm very upset nothing has gone on and it's just at a standstill,'' said Tim Scammell, New Maryland village councillor and a long-time member of the Friends of Fredericton Railway Inc. lobby group, on Tuesday.

"Unless something is going on behind the scenes and they've kept it quiet, I'm very disappointed. I thought the idea of moving the bus station there was a great idea. I liked the idea of moving a liquor store there.''

The Fredericton chapter of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick has suggested the train station would make a good home for Acadien Coach Lines, which has to relocate from the downtown.

Woodside has voiced his displeasure with the deteriorating state of the train station at various times and in varying degrees, but he said it's time to sort it out once and for all.

"I will not let go until this matter is resolved," the mayor said. "The public is fed up and so is the city. Inaction and the status quo is not acceptable."

The liquor corporation was deluged with opposition when it closed its King Street liquor store in January 2008.