You have seen it being built along the Saint John waterfront, now you will get the chance to check it out.
After months of preparation, the permanent Area 506 Waterfront Container Village opens for the first time Wednesday.
Ray Gracewood, founder of Area 506, said there is a lot of excitement among those involved in the project.
“Everyone is excited to see the progress, especially over the past six weeks,” Gracewood said in an interview this week.
The village will showcase retail shops, a waterfront container bar, food trucks, a performance space, and more.
The 54 shipping containers have been on the Water Street site for a few weeks now, but the work began much sooner at another site in the city.
Gracewood said they started doing the manufacturing work on the containers themselves in early 2022.
“We spent three or four months working through a lot of the stuff, primarily welding, electrical work, painting, cleaning,” he said.
The first group of containers arrived uptown in early May, giving crews about four to six weeks to prepare for the opening.
While a lot of work happened before the containers were put into place, Gracewood said there was no shortage of things to do once that happened.
“From tying in the electrical and getting the WiFi and telecom working to building the stage and the viewing deck and the container bar,” he said.
More than two dozen vendors are lined up, according to Gracewood, which includes those in containers themselves and food trucks.
Visitors can also check out the 120-foot-long, 20-foot-high feature of mural and graffiti work from local and international artists, and stop by the waterfront beer garden to check out the views of the bay.
“The viewing deck is going to be the thing that will absolutely blow people’s minds I think. I’ve been up there already for a little sneak peek and the views of the city and the views of the waterfront are absolutely astounding,” said Gracewood.
Wednesday’s opening will coincide with the arrival of the largest cruise ship to berth in Saint John since the first vessel arrived in 1989.
Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, the world’s fifth-largest cruise ship, has a maximum capacity of more than 5,000 passengers plus more than 2,000 crew.
The Waterfront Container Village’s warm-up weekend also includes an open house on Thursday, the Outdoor Outdoor Film Festival on Friday, and a performance by July Talk on Saturday.
The village will be open from Wednesday through Sunday until early November.
