Monday, October 22, 2007

Fredericton Railway Station Update

First, a reminder - the public meeting is still set for Tuesday October 23 at 7:30 PM at the St. Pauls United Church, 224 York Street. The Gleaner has the wrong time (7 PM).

The big news. J.D. Irving has started assessing the station to protect it from any further damage over the winter. It is a good first step toward the eventual restoration of the station. Kudos to J.D. Irving for stepping up to do the right thing.

Tim Scammell of the Fredericton Friends of the Railway Inc. has said that Mayor Brad Woodside will indeed be attending the Tuesday meeting - also good news. Thank you, Mr. Woodside. Tim indicated that there will be some federal representatives present.

I hope to attend Tuesday's meeting, and if I do I will report on what was discussed.

The sad thing is that this issue has been ongoing for a number of years. Look at this August 20, 2003 CBC report on the station, for example. But wait - how about this October 24, 2000 CBC report about Irving's plans for the station? That was back when Irving was planning to put an office building at the site of the former elevator, across from the former Hartt Shoe Factory. Those plans fell through and with them went the restoration of the train station.

The Daily Gleaner had a cover article on the station in the Saturday paper.

Other coverage and links:
Daily Gleaner October 9 - Train station roof won't last winter
CBC October 12 - Mayor calls for repairs to historic Fredericton train station
CBC October 15 - Historic train station needs urgent repair
Local blogger Charles Leblanc mentioned the meeting.
Heritage Canada's 10 Most Endangered Places

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