New Courthouse Announced For Fredericton

Plans have been announced for a brand new provincial courthouse in downtown Fredericton.

The 100,000-sq.-ft. building will replace the aging courthouse currently located on Queen Street.

It will be located on King Street between Regent and Carleton streets, a short distance from the current courthouse.

“After due diligence, we have found our preferred location. It is central and easy to access,” Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Jill Green said in a news release Monday.

“We will continue to work with the Department of Justice and Public Safety on the development of a modern courthouse.”

The new courthouse will include advancements in security and safety and smart features like video conferencing technology, according to the release.

Provincial officials said the building will be constructed using a multi-phase tender process.

It will start with site preparations, foundations, and structural steel before moving to the final building construction and preparation for opening.

It is expected that the first project tender will be posted by this fall with the work completed by 2025.

A total of $7.5 million for this project was set aside in the 2021-22 provincial capital project. There is no word on how much the total project will cost.

The current courthouse building houses the provincial court, the Court of Queen’s Bench, and the New Brunswick Court of Appeal.

The former Liberal government announced plans in early 2017 to redevelop the Centennial Building and put in a new courthouse, but the plan was quashed by the incoming Higgs government in 2018.

The Centennial Building was later sold to Centennial Heritage Properties Inc. for $4 million.