Stronger law could help protect historical buildings like Moncton High

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BY GREG WESTON
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

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FREDERICTON - A new bill introduced in the provincial Legislature last week would make it easier to designate official heritage sites in New Brunswick, and could have ramifications for the fate of Moncton High School.

Hédard Albert, minister of wellness, culture and sport, gave the bill its second reading in the house.

"You have some regions that sometimes will destroy a building without asking anybody. Now they will have to be very careful because they cannot destroy a building like this," he said in an interview, listing Moncton's Capitol Theatre, the Campbell Carriage Factory Museum in Sackville and Keillor House in Dorchester as other examples of possible heritage buildings.

"It will improve a lot the process of designating heritage places. The public will have the opportunity to give their input and they will have the ability to present the case."

The new Heritage Conservation Act will replace two pieces of decades-old legislation. It provides stronger guidelines for the identification and protection of heritage sites including buildings, conservation areas and places of archeological importance.

Included in the bill are provisions that both regulate alterations and repairs to designated buildings and prohibit their demolition.

The 73-year-old Moncton High currently doesn't meet national building codes. In addition, some provincial education guidelines regarding classroom space and learning areas are not being met.

In January, members of the District Education Council received a report from a Moncton architecture firm that stated it would cost $48 million to bring the school up to code, about enough to build two new schools. As a result, the council is considering the possibility of replacing the building, one of the oldest surviving schools in the Maritimes.

Aubrey Kirkpatrick, director of finance, administration and communications for School District 2, said it is unclear what effect the bill could have on the council's options.

"It's additional information that the DEC would want to consider before they make their recommendation to government," he said, adding that a decision on the future of Moncton High remains some ways away.

"I guess that will be part of the review process. Certainly the DEC would have to take (the act) into consideration and, ultimately, it would affect the recommendation."

In June, the council received a briefing from heritage architecture expert Jim Bezanson. It stated the previous study was a worst-case scenario and that repairs could cost as little as $5 to $7 million. The council is now considering paying a consulting firm $80,000 to conduct an independent public review of what should be done with the school.

Coun. Paulette Thériault, a member of Moncton's Heritage Preservation Review Board, said the new legislation is a welcome addition to preservation efforts in the province and that the board would apply to have Moncton High designated as a historical building once the law is in place.

"We need to have it recognized provincially as a historical building. We need to work together on this. We can't, as a municipality, do things in isolation," she said from Fredericton.

Thériault, Mayor George LeBlanc and several other Moncton councillors were in the capital city to meet with the ministers of supply and services, education and public safety in regards to the future of the school.

"It's looking good at the moment," said Thériault, who hopes a provincially-funded board can also be established in New Brunswick.

"We're not inventing the wheel. This has been done in other provinces and it works well."