Developer proposes changes to Centennial Building that some say would ruin its character

A real estate development company is proposing to make changes to an iconic downtown Fredericton building that are already proving to be controversial among some residents and a heritage advocate.

Centennial Heritage Properties has filed an application with the City of Fredericton to revise the proposed facade for the Centennial Building from the one it already received approval for in 2021.

The City of Fredericton has sent letters to nearby residents to notify them about the proposal, describing and showing what the proposed changes to 670 King St. would look like.

"The previously approved façade design was based on a reconfigured curtain wall grid with vertical and horizontal mullions and inset balconies to emulate the original design," the city said in its letter.

"The proposed façade design will replace the curtain wall with a new wall cladding system using primarily metal panels and the balconies have been changed to project out from the façade supported by columns as shown on the attached plans."

The letter does not say why the changes are being proposed.

They are the latest sign of progress for the Centennial Building, however, they're not being welcomed by some neighbours, including Floyd Jackson.

"It's disappointing to see something so significant, so of its time, being destroyed and replaced by something that, to my mind, is radically different," said Jackson, who has lived across from the building on St. John Street for 40 years.

The Centennial Building was constructed in 1967 as part of a nationwide infrastructure-building campaign to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation.

It housed the province's halls of power for decades, containing offices for about 1,000 government employees and the premier.

In 2012, civil servants started moving out of the building to make way for renovations, and the addition of a courthouse at a cost of $76 million.

But Blaine Higgs, just months after becoming premier in 2018, cancelled the project, saying the province didn't need more government buildings.

It was then sold to Centennial Heritage Properties in 2019 for $4 million, but plans to convert the building into an apartment complex have yet to materialize.

CBC News asked Centennial Heritage Properties director Geoff Colter for an interview about the proposed changes for the building's facade. In an email, he said he was unavailable until next week.

The proposed changes are scheduled to go before Fredericton's planning advisory committee on Jan. 15, and city council will first consider the proposal during its Feb. 10 meeting, with a final vote at its following meeting.

'Big loss'

The Centennial Building was constructed at a time when there was considerable pride among Canadians, and optimism for the country's future, said Fredericton Heritage Trust president Jeremy Mouat.

Its smooth surfaces and vertical lines were typical of modernist buildings constructed around the same period.

With the latest proposal put forward by its owner, that character and the echoes of its time would be devalued, Mouat said.

"Their renderings of the north and the northeast [side of the building] is speckled with … balconies that really don't go with the … heart of the building," Mouat said.

"[What they're doing now] is no nod to the … the original esthetic of the building. In fact, if it's not degrading or destroying it, it is certainly weakening what was striking in the … original building."

Tim Cunningham lives on St. John Street and received the city's notice of the proposed changes in the mail.

He said the renderings reminded him of structures built in areas that were under the rule or influence of the former Soviet Union.

"It just doesn't fit in at all with the downtown core," Cunningham said. "I just can't understand it.

"You're building a beautiful new justice building. We're building a brand new playhouse building just right next to it, you've got the legislature right there. And to put something that looks like that up there, I think... it doesn't match. It just doesn't sit well."