A fire damaged a building at Fort La Tour in Saint John on May 19, 2021. (Image: Elizabeth MacLeod)
The chair of the Fort La Tour Development Authority says they plan to rebuild after a ‘suspicious’ early-morning fire Wednesday dealt significant damage to the newly-built tourist site.
Fort La Tour was designated a national historic site in 1923, and the board has spent years working on a $1.8-million tourist attraction that includes replica buildings and historical information.
Beth Hatt says fire crews were called to the historic site just before 3 a.m. Wednesday and, thanks to their hard work, the blaze was quickly extinguished.
“When (we) saw the fire … I mean that was tears. There were three or four of us here, and we just couldn’t believe it,” Hatt said Wednesday.
“It’s very sad, and it’s discouraging to see six years of work and to see it almost ready and so beautiful and then have one of the buildings be damaged so much.”
She says the fire primarily damaged the small entrance building which looks out on the harbour.
Damage at the Fort La Tour historic site. Photo submitted.
The board will now turn its attention to fixing the damage, as they push back their targeted June 20 opening. Hatt says they’ll re-do everything that was lost in the hope of being able to reopen later this summer.
“The impact is, we’re not sure obviously yet, it’s too soon,” Hatt said. “We’re just waiting for the adjuster, the report from police and the fire marshal. We’re waiting to see the impact of the cost to re-do.”
She says they’re a few weeks away from being able to provide a firm timeline.
“We’re not going to be able to make that decision until we get some of the timing, the numbers. Some of the materials they used on the site, like the cedar shingles, the big palisade logs, you can’t just replace that overnight,” said Hatt.
In the meantime, city police will continue the investigation after deeming the fire suspicious on Wednesday afternoon.
Hatt says the site had extensive security features, including still cameras and video. She says police took that into their possession after the fire was extinguished.
While police investigate, Hatt says there was a silver lining Wednesday in the form of an outpouring of community support.
“What’s happened is the rallying around this site from the community. The calls that I’ve received… the contractors saying ‘what can I do, where can I help?’ So many people have come forward,” said Hatt.
Damage to the roof of one of the buildings at Fort La Tour. Photo submitted.
As a result, the board is looking into putting together a page to collect donations to help stem their losses.
Hatt says many of the people she’s heard from are angry about the possibility of vandals destroying the site.
Despite her initial feelings of anger, she also speaks with optimism about the site’s future.
“We were just almost ready, that’s the part that’s discouraging,” Hatt said. “But you know what? That site has been a resilient site since 1631, and 6,000 years before that with the Indigenous community. So we’re just going to plow ahead.”
