A heritage preservation advocate is hoping a historic downtown Fredericton building is spared of a fate similar to some of the residents who once occupied it, following its recent sale to a private real estate company.
Once the site of public executions, the former York County jail was purchased in March by a numbered company registered to Wei Liu, who also owns more than a dozen other commercial and residential properties throughout Fredericton.
“If they’re looking to lease the building, hopefully that means that they’re giving some time and consideration to what the the future use will be,” said Ian Robertson, a director with Fredericton Heritage Trust.
“And hopefully, unlike perhaps some of the the former inmates of the jail who may have received life sentences or even death sentences, that this building will have a stay of execution, and live to see another day for many, many years.”
Real estate company buys historic Fredericton jail
Constructed in 1842, the building on Brunswick Street, near the Boyce Farmers Market, served as a jail until 1996 but remained steeped in notoriety for being the site of public executions — the last of which occurred in 1949, with a double-hanging.
Science East moved into the building in 1999, converting the cells and a dining hall into offices and exhibit spaces, where it offered science education programming until early last year. Then the organization ran into financial challenges.
It still operates without a science centre, offering bookings for school workshops and educational outreach events, according to Science East’s website.
The former jail was designated a provincial heritage building in 2003.
While the building was originally listed for sale for $1.2 million, provincial property records show Liu’s numbered company purchased it for $800,000 in March.
New Brunswick’s corporate affairs registry shows the numbered company controls Sunfield Property, which has since listed the building for rent on its website for $8,500 per month.
According to the listing, permitted uses include a daycare, retail, office, or restaurant within the building’s 10,000 square-foot floor plan.
Photos shared in the listing suggest little to no changes have been made to the interior layout of the building since Science East moved out, with the organization’s branding and equipment still visible in some pictures.
CBC News requested an interview with Liu about his plans for the building but did not receive a response.
The building is described as “pure Georgian functional architecture,” in a profile of the former jail by the Canadian Register of Historic Places, which is administered by Parks Canada.
Designed by architect Thomas Smith, it was built by local contractor Andrew Blair primarily using grey granite extracted from the Spoon Island quarry near Hampstead in southern New Brunswick.
While Robertson finds some comfort knowing the building has a provincial heritage designation, he said the new owner could request that it be repealed.
“And sometimes that’s necessary unfortunately, but it’s sort of one step down the road, I guess. That puts a property in sort of a questionable or delicate situation in terms of not having certain standards in place that has to be maintained.”
According to the Heritage Conservation Act, the owner of a provincially designated building must receive a permit from the minister of tourism, heritage and culture before making any alterations that change its character-defining features.
Removal of a heritage designation would require a sign-off from the minister.
CBC News asked the department if the new owner has applied to either alter the building or repeal its designation.
“To date, the Department has not received any inquiries or requests to repeal the designation,” spokesperson Jean Bertin said in an email.
“One Provincial Heritage Permit has been issued to the new owner to install replica prison bars on the front windows in a historically appropriate manner.”
