St. George's Anglican Church building no longer heritage property

The owners of the former St. George's Anglican Church building in Saint John will no longer have to follow heritage laws. City council removed its heritage designation at city council on Monday night.    

"We were very pleased. That decision will really help our business," said David McCashion, who is one of the owners of the property.

The building on the city's west side is no longer used as a church, but instead houses a restaurant and wedding venue.

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McCashion said the heritage designation increased the cost of insurance.

The owners also wanted to do some repairs, but that became a challenge as well.

"It just made it more difficult to find contractors to come and even give estimates. As soon as they heard it was heritage, they didn't want anything to do with it," said McCashion.

McCashion says their first task is to put up a sign, which they couldn't do before. They bought the building a year ago and still get customers coming in who never realized that it had been turned into a restaurant.

McCashion says the building is structurally sound, but they need to repair and paint the building's tower, and replace the restaurant's door. He says they have no plans to change how the building looks. 

"As we told the council, we want to keep the building looking the same. That's the overall goal."