Keith Ashfield Speaks About the Fredericton Train Station

Charles Leblanc did a nice interview with Keith Ashfield, MP for Fredericton and the newly appointed Minister of State for ACOA. Charles' first question, of course, was about our train station.

Mr. Ashfield's response is fair and true. There are no easy solutions for the station, but with everyone's cooperation, it will be restored.

The Freight Shed

Many people do not realize that the freight shed on the rear of our station is not part of the original structure. It was added in the 1950s (I believe), and although it matches the rest of the station, it is not original and therefore not part of the heritage structure. When the station is restored, I suspect the shed will be removed and the station restored to its 1923-era appearance.

Photoshop

Erstwhile blogger Charles Leblanc did some creative Photoshopping of our train station. Nice tarp!

Station Options

The city had a meeting Monday evening to discuss their options for the station. The Daily Gleaner report is here. The gist of the article is that the city has no leverage to force any work to be done on the station.

I met with Deputy Mayor Tony Whalen Tuesday morning to introduce myself and talk about our station. He confirmed what the Gleaner reported. He (and I) are hopeful that something will come through very soon for the station.

Daily Gleaner Article About Murray Yeomans' Petition

Here's the complete Daily Gleaner article, with much more detail than the Times & Transcript version I wrote about earlier today.

As I said in the article, "It shows that there's a broad range of support to restore the station, and it's not just people who remember the station from their youth, but it's also today's youth who are interested in keeping our heritage alive."

Student Petition

The Fredericton Friends of the Railway were contacted by Murray Yeomans, a student at Leo Hayes High School. He organized a petition to save our York Street train station and gathered over 300 signatures. Murray plans to present it to city council members today. Story in the Times and Transcript. I was called for my comments on this story.

This petition, and the remarkable young man behind it, shows the broad range of support for the restoration of our station in the city. Let's hope the council consider that when they review their options for the station today.

Funding Sources

I have been doing some research into sources of funding for rebuilding the station. I know in the past that funding has been available from ACOA for rebuilding old train stations through the Strategic Community Investment Fund, but that has expired.

I see there is an Innovative Communities Fund available that seems to be a good fit for what we are trying to do with the station.

Does anyone have other ideas for funding the rebuilding of our station?