Dramatic change to Centennial Building facade rejected by Fredericton committee

A proposal to completely transform the face of a prominent downtown Fredericton building was rejected Wednesday night by the planning advisory committee.

Centennial Heritage Properties director Geoff Colter, who owns the empty Centennial Building, had sought city approval for a design change that critics said would ruin the building's historic character.

But the planning committee, made up of councillors and citizens, went with a city staff recommendation to reject the proposal. It will go to council later for an official decision.

About 30 people filled council chambers, with more joining virtually, for the discussion of the Centennial Building, which a local architect called the most important building built in the last century in New Brunswick.

Tony Dakiv, a senior city planner, told the committee that Coulter's latest design proposal differed from the one approved in 2022 that respected the building's character.

The initial proposal "achieved a balance" between heritage character and an adaptive reuse strategy, Dakiv said, and its planned inset balconies did not disrupt the building's vertical grid-patterned facade.

The new design replaced that facade with a cladding system that included metal panels and featured balconies projecting outward.

Coulter told the committee the initial design proved to be "way over any economical budget that existed," and the biggest factor driving up the cost was the plan for inset balconies.

"We said, well, what if this was a more conventional-type cladding like you would see on an apartment building that's not in the city centre and it's not the Centennial Building?"

The Centennial Building on King Street, kitty-corner to the back of the New Brunswick Legislative Building, was constructed in 1967 as part of a nationwide infrastructure campaign to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Confederation.

For decades, it housed offices for about 1,000 provincial employees and the premier. It was vacated in 2012 for renovations before being sold in 2018 by the newly elected premier Blaine Higgs.

It was sold to Coulter in 2019 for $4 million, but the province did not apply any heritage protection or designation before selling. Since the sale, the building has been fenced off like a construction site but with little apparent activity going on. 

John Leroux, an architect and historian, asked committee members to reject the latest design proposal and not let "what once was our greatest achievement be reduced to suburban balconies."

Leroux said that he went to school with Coulter and has worked with him before, but that he got the design wrong.