The Mayor Weighs In Again

In the latest Daily Gleaner article, Mayor Woodside repeated his "fix it up or tear it down" slogan.

Apparently negotiations are underway between NB Liquor and J.D. Irving, at a "critical juncture". This was first discussed back in March.

Personally, and I don't speak for the Friends on this one, I feel the city should purchase the train station. Waiting for a private developer with cash falling out of their pockets to come along has not worked, and will not work. If you look across the country, the successful train station restorations happen when the municipality gets involved. This has not happened in Fredericton... yet.

I still think this would be a great location for the bus station, should NB Liquor not be interested.

I still honestly think the best option is to find a tenant for the station and get it fixed up. Should the city apply, it will take years to get approval to tear it down, if ever, and there will be tremendous opposition. The best option is for the city to take ownership of this issue, literally, and move forward.

Train Station as Bus Station

I was interviewed by Michael Staples of the Daily Gleaner for this article. There is a lot of talk about converting the station to a bus terminal for Acadian Bus Lines, who have to leave their downtown location soon. I think this would be a great use of the station. The major stumbling block, of course, is the cost to refurbish the station. I would not think Acadian would want to take on much of that cost.

Liquor Store at the Train Station?

This article in the Gleaner suggests that NB Liquor may be considering locating a liquor store in our train station. Whatever gets the station restored!

What Should We Do With the Train Station

There was a great opinion piece in the February 3 Daily Gleaner. The three members of their "Community Triple Take" group each wrote a few paragraphs about our train station and what should be done with it. I encourage you to go read the article.

Youtube Interview With Mayor Brad Woodside

Charles Leblanc did a Youtube interview with Fredericton's mayor, Brad Woodside. In the beginning of this segment, the mayor talked about our train station. He believes that 2009 will be a "pivotal year". I hope so!

Best Wishes

On behalf of the Fredericton Friends of the Railway, please accept our best wishes for the holiday season. I hope the season finds you surrounded by friends and family and I hope the new year brings you joy and peace.

Interview with CBC New Brunswick

I was interviewed by Andy Wilson of CBC New Brunswick today, and a portion of that interview appeared on News at Six. Until 6 PM Wednesday you can view the segment at this link. The piece on our station appears from 15:18 to 17:50 in the broadcast.

The piece was prompted by Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside's recent comments, essentially saying "tear it down or we'll put up a sign to show who is responsible for this mess."

Mary Keith of J.D. Irving was also interviewed. She said "We're very hopeful about a current prospect we have. There's been an exchange of plans and drawings and so on. Obviously, the deal's not done until the ink is dry, but we're continuing to work away at it."

As you can see in the video, it was very windy and that was why I was blinking a lot! They got the name of our group mixed up, but that's OK. I think the segment was well done and I appreciate the chance to get the word out on the station.