$11.9-Million Investment On Waterfront Will Help Prepare Coast Guard Site For Development
SAINT JOHN – The federal government is contributing $11.9-million to help refurbish the sea wall on the city’s waterfront to mitigate the effects of climate change. But it will also help prepare the Coast Guard site for a potentially major development on a prime piece of land in the uptown core, says Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long, who can see the site from his office in Market Square.
“When I look out my window and look down toward the Marco Polo cruise terminal, I see a vast opportunity and an amazing economic stimulant opportunity – for this region, not just uptown Saint John,” said Long in an interview after the government announcement in Saint John Wednesday morning.
“The city is experiencing a rebirth over the last three or four years. There’s economic life for the first time in a long time in uptown Saint John. The fact that the federal government can help get this waterfront acreage ready for developers is significant.”
Long says the site remains a prime piece of land for development, even though the plan to build a new museum there was cancelled after the provincial election last fall.
“I’m still very regretful that the museum project was cancelled by the provincial government, but still hopeful that either that or another significant project can be a domino economic stimulant for the whole waterfront. It would transform the city,” said Long.
Steve Carson, the CEO of Develop Saint John, says this announcement is critical to attracting a new developer for the site.
“It’s very timely,” said Carson. “As everyone is well aware, this is a really complicated site to develop. There are a number of important pieces to the puzzle that need to come together, and this has been a missing piece for some time and has hampered efforts to get the site developed in the past.
“The raising of the site is just as important as fixing the seawall to make it attractive for investment. It’s a little more than a metre from a seawall perspective, and then another metre to account for storm surges on top of that. Without the participation of the federal government, it would be pretty challenging.”
RELATED: Saint John Seeking New Developer For Coast Guard Site
Last December, the new Higgs government cancelled plans to construct a new provincial museum on the site. In April, Develop Saint John put out a call for proposals for new development. The deadline for submissions was May 7th and proposals are currently being reviewed.
Carson says Develop Saint John can’t provide details on the proposals while the review process is underway, but he said the work on the seawall and the site itself was critical for the proponents who submitted plans.
“This is really timely news to receive at this point in our discussions,” said Carson in an interview. “Without having this firmed up it made our discussions more challenging in terms of what the solution could look like. This is a big step.”
The overall project consists of improving three critical components of infrastructure made vulnerable by climate change effects, including refurbishing the sea wall, raising or replacing city pumping stations, and relocating vulnerable electrical utility infrastructure on the Saint John waterfront.
Once completed, the federal government says the project will help reduce the effects of storm and flooding events in the City’s central business district, protect public utilities, and reduce the risk of contaminating ocean ecosystems.
Ottawa is funding projects like this through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund. The $11.9-million federal contribution will be supplemented by The City of Saint John and Saint John Energy, which will provide the remaining 60 per cent of project funding through long-term capital funding programs.
Banner photo, from left to right: Saint John mayor Don Darling, Ray Robinson, President & CEO of Saint John Energy, Wayne Long, MP for Saint John-Rothesay, Marco Mendicino, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Brent McGovern, Saint John Water Commissioner, and Samir Yammine, Manager of Energy, City of Saint John. Image: submitted.