Uptown Board for historic site has been trying to develop location for 30 years
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DERWIN GOWAN
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
SAINT JOHN - The iron is hot for the Fort La Tour project.
Peter Walsh/Telegraph-Journal
Fort La Tour is the site of Charles de La Tour’s 1630s fort and trading post.
Irving Oil Ltd. wants to contribute an amount to be decided to the long-held dream of developing the tourism potential at the site of Charles de La Tour's 1630s fort and trading post.
Harbour Passage takes pedestrians past the grassed-over stretch of waterfront today - between Long Wharf and HMCS Brunswicker.
The Fort La Tour Authority released plans for the site in the 1970s, but has come close to despair in the decades since looking for funding.
Moreover, the authority and City of Saint John officials have clashed in the past over visions for the site, said lawyer and former mayor Eric L. Teed, a member of the Fort La Tour Authority board.
Decisions on the future of Fort La Tour will involve other parties, too, said Vicky Deschênes, director of communications with the provincial Wellness, Culture and Sport department.
The provincial government owns the land, a protected archeological site and National Historic Site. "It's a protected site, so if you want to build anything, you need a permit," Deschênes said.
Besides federal, provincial and local authorities, Acadians and First Nations, with history buried at Fort La Tour, should have something to say, she said.
These issues aside, the government welcomes Irving Oil's offer.
"This is good news," Deschênes said. "We will work with all of the stakeholders "¦ all of the stakeholders want to do good in this."
Irving Oil would include money for Fort La Tour as part of a $30-million proposal to build a new corporate headquarters at Long Wharf.
The tentative deal, if the parties approve it, could transform uptown Saint John, business officials said following the formal announcement last week.
The port would get 10 acres of usable space at the old sugar refinery site in return for the 10 acres at Long Wharf. Irving Oil would buy the sugar refinery land from the City of Saint John, then deed it to the port in return for a long-term lease at Long Wharf.
Besides the new space at the sugar refinery site, the port would keep the ship berths at Long Wharf - ideal if two cruise ships arrive at the same time, or to allow public access to a warship making a courtesy call, or a visiting tall ship, said Capt. Alwyn Soppitt, president and chief executive officer of the Saint John Port Authority.
Other projects either planned or under way - the Coast Guard wharf, Pugsley Park, the cruise terminal, wharf and cargo space at Lower Cove, John Rocca's condominium development - would change the city.
"They altogether form a picture of a city that is getting on the move to grow," said Coun. Carl Killen following the announcement. "There's a whole lot going on in the city, and these are big-ticket items."
This work would lead to other projects, too, said Ross Jefferson, general manager of the Saint John Waterfront Development Partnership- including the impact from 1,000 people in the new building at area lunch counters. "It is certainly very positive," he said.
Jefferson welcomes Irving Oil's commitment to consult the public on developing the public spaces around its new headquarters. The company's role in the improving the Loyalist Burial Ground - behind the current headquarters in the Golden Ball building - speaks well of Irving Oil's desire to work in well-kept spaces, he said.
The company has yet to decide what it will do with the Golden Ball, but does not intend to sell the property at the corner of Sydney and Union streets, said Irving Oil spokesman Blaine Higgs.
The tax revenue from the Irving Oil project might offset the cost of the city's plan for the "north of Union" development, Coun. Stephen Chase said.
Mayor Ivan Court, who attended other city business in Fredericton last Friday, responded later that city staff will look at the tax implications. "We need the people who look after our books to give us some input," he said.
He, along with Chase and Killen, stressed the need to consult the public. Councillors need background knowledge on the issues, the mayor said. "This council is walking into a situation very similar to four years ago," the mayor said, referring to the tax deal for the liquefied natural gas terminal, a factor in the civic elections last month. "This time we have to make sure that we do it right." "We're talking about changing the skyline of the city of Saint John," the mayor said. "This is not going to be an 11th-hour decision. There's going to be consultation."
