From trains to buses?
Published Thursday May 7th, 2009
Old station | Site pitched as new home for bus line
If a creative idea for Fredericton's York Street train station is accepted, it may have new life as a transportation hub, but not as it pertains to trains.
Lewis Morgan, a member of Transport 2000 Atlantic, a group that promotes the advancement and development of public transportation, believes the property should be redeveloped so that it can be used by Acadian Bus Lines.
The company is looking to move from its location at 101 Regent St.
"It would be lovely to have that site returned to its original intended use," Morgan said Wednesday.
Group Orleans Express, the company that owns Acadian Bus Lines, confirmed earlier this month that it was looking for a new home.
Manon Piche, the company's vice-president of marketing, sales and communications, said the firm is only interested in leasing property from someone else and isn't interested in buying the train station and the land it's on.
"If there's a developer that comes to us and says, 'Here is a project we have (and) here is the long-term lease you would have to pay to be here,' then it's a question of whether (it) fits with our budget constraints."
If that happens, Piche said, then it's worth looking at it.
"I look at everything; I look at all alternatives."
Piche said the company needs to have enough space for its buses and a location that's convenient for customers.
Morgan said the York Street site would give Acadian the space it needs, while providing ample parking.
The York Street train station, constructed in 1923, is protected under federal heritage legislation that bars owners J.D. Irving Ltd. from tearing it down. The cost of restoring the structure is about $2 million.
While J.D. Irving Ltd. couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday, the company has said it isn't feasible to do that work without a major development.
J.D. Irving Ltd. wants to redevelop the station as part of a commercial or office project. Bringing the one-time station back to life is a requirement for development of the surrounding land.
Company officials in recent years have talked with developers, potential tenants and even signed a letter of sale after being offered $1. So far, however, nothing has materialized.
Morgan said the transformation into a bus station could be done while preserving the rail bed, and maintaining the building's original appearance.
Because of its rapidly decaying state - and the city's need for a new bus station - a decision on the building's future should be made as soon as possible, Morgan said.
Steve Boyko, president of Fredericton Friends of the Railway, also feels the York Street site would be a great location for the bus station.
"It's not far from downtown (and) there's good road access,'' said Boyko. "Also, it's in keeping with the theme of the station as a transportation centre."
In order for it to work, however, there would have to be some level of government involvement, Boyko said.
Alex Forbes, director of development services for the city, said his initial response to the idea is that it wouldn't be the best utilization for "an extremely valuable property."
"It certainly could work for that use, but a lot of other uses have been tried on that property that are much more substantive," Forbes said.
"The upgrade to the train station is significant. Any type of an operation like Acadian doesn't need really expensive space."
Forbes said Acadian has an application going later this month to the city's planning advisory committee pertaining to a location on Woodside Lane, off Hanwell Road.
"From the city's point of view, we would ideally like to have them downtown because people want to get dropped off downtown. But it's easier said than done because it's hard to find the property downtown where you can get all of the conditions to accommodate them."
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acadia lines s/b relocating to where that vacant building is beside the legion on queen st and that vast empty parking lot AND Fredericton citizens really need to get together and get the IRVINGS to do something about the eye sore they have in our downtown. Really tho ...
I can see that using the bus station as part of the redevelopment of the train station would be a wonderful idea. A temporary structure could easily be build or leased for the time being...look at Saint John, where the bus station is a temporary location until they get a downtown location sorted out (in another 10 years).
Restoring the train station will only happen if it makes economic sense, but located right there I can see the bus depot, a coffee shop, etc etc...