Councillors David Hickey and Donna Reardon are frustrated that J.D. Irving Ltd. wants to tear down a historic building on King Street East. (Submitted: David Hickey)
Two Saint John councillors are fighting to save a historic building on King Street East.
The 79-year-old home is owned by J.D. Irving, Ltd., which has previously applied to have it torn dorn due to its “poor condition.”
But David Hickey and Donna Reardon say the building is still structurally sound and should be turned into a residential building, something the city desperately needs.
“It’s really troubling,” said Hickey. “JDI just really doesn’t have the rest of the neighbourhood in mind in terms of this property.”
When JDI first bought the building 25 years ago, they rented out the apartments. But the building has been vacant, unheated and boarded up for years.
“This is a very clear case of what seems to be the strategy of JDI is just demolition by neglect. We’re going to leave it here, we’re not going to touch it, hopefully it falls down,” said Hickey.
The two would like to see JDI restore and renovate the building. Hickey says under the Heritage Bylaw, the only other option right now is to sell.
“A demolition doesn’t occur in this scenario without them putting it on the market for 12 months, at which point I’m confident a developer in Saint John would pick it up,” he said.
But Hickey says the city is “handcuffed by its bylaws” and hasn’t found a way to save the building.
J.D. Irving, Ltd., planned to tear down an 80-year-old building on King Street East and build a memorial park in its place. (Photo submitted)
Company Wants To Build Memorial Park
Mary Keith, a spokesperson for JDI, said they applied for a demolition permit in 2016 as the building “did not have any significant heritage features and was not consistent with the Victorian architecture on the street.”
The company planned to use part of the site for parking and build a memorial park for the former St. John Presbyterian Church which used to be there.
“Our application was denied by the Heritage Board,” said Keith in an email to our newsroom.
In May 2018, the city issued a notice under the Local Governance Act requiring that the building be demolished or repaired.
Keith said the city rejected their demolition application two months later, saying the structure would first need a heritage demolition permit.
“At this time we have no immediate plans for the property,” she said.
‘We Need The Residential’
Reardon says the building, which her and Hickey are now calling the Paikowski House after its original architect, was built during the Second World War in 1941 and holds a lot of history.
“It’s so significant with its wood history, and it’s different than what’s on the street. It’s a different age as well. A lot of the architecture here is Victorian. Really your city should reflect every age of architecture, it shouldn’t all be one thing,” she said.
Reardon says if restored, the building could be turned into something like a museum, “but I would love to have residents in there,” she said. “We need the residential.”
She says bit by bit, JDI has been buying the buildings in the area, only to demolish them.
“They bought the street … that component of Elliot Row. Over time, all of the houses on Elliot Row have disappeared. Now we start on King Street East,” she said.
When asked why they are bringing the fight to the forefront now, Reardon says the recent demolition of historic buildings like Gothic Arches and Anglin House were catalysts.
“There’s all this effort being put into tearing down buildings, but we want to grow,” she said.
Hickey says they don’t want to see another historic building come down.
“If we lose it, it sets another really negative precedent in saying Heritage is not a value to the city.”
