Old Bathurst Post Office to be revived as community arts centre

A historic, 137-year-old building in the heart of downtown Bathurst is getting a new life.

Known as the Old Bathurst Post Office, the building at the corner of the city's Main Street and Douglas Avenue is being turned into a cultural centre.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the City of Bathurst and a new non-profit organization, the Old Bathurst Post Office Preservation Project Ltd.

Brian Hoffman, a spokesperson for the preservation project, said he hopes the building will host events and possibly offer rental space to generate revenue.

"We want it to be a culturally oriented community centre," he said, for musical and stage productions. "It could be service groups that want to use it."

Hoffman started the project with friends and fellow Rotarians Gary Winsor and John Mann two years ago, after discussing how the city did not appear to be doing anything with the building that has played several different roles in the 137 years since it was completed.

"We had come to determine that the city didn't really have the financial resources or the personnel to spend any time taking care of the building," said Hoffman. "So we started looking [at] what could we do to ensure that the building didn't continue to deteriorate."

In a statement, Bathurst Mayor Kim Chamberlain said the city is very excited about the future potential of this project.

"When we were presented with a proposal that would bring new life to the building, establish a centre that could become a prime location to showcase culture and our history, as well as become once again a key component in the Downtown area, we were obviously interested," she said. 

Hoffman said there is a considerable amount of work that needs to be done to upgrade the building. He said there is no heating system, the electrical system is in rough shape and there are plumbing issues.

"There's an extensive amount of work that needs to be done and what we need to do is get detailed estimates for what it would cost to do various parts of the work, in addition to converting it to a community centre," he said.

He said they are still gathering information but believe it will cost $1-2 million and will be a multi-year project. 

According to Hoffman, the only concerns from the community they have heard so far centred around costs.

"There's a few people that are concerned about could it turn into a money pit," he said. "So it's our job as the preservation committee to ensure that no, that that does not happen, that we approach it in a structured manner so that we we have a clear idea of where the money has to go, or what money is required, what work is required and how we're going to fund it."

Peter Assaff, president of the Bathurst Rotary Club, also presented the group with a commitment of $50,000 in funding on Monday, with $10,000 per year over five years.

Hoffman said it is their only financial commitment to date, and they plan to apply for funding from the city and the province, in addition to fundraising.

According to the city, the building was constructed between 1881 and 1886 and was used as a postal and customs office until 1959. 

It then acted as an armoury for the 2nd Battalion Royal New Brunswick regiment. It was given to the city in 1997.