Renovations will soon begin on the Saint John City Hall tower as new local owners take over the building.
Keith Brideau, Dr. David Elias and Alex Elias recently purchased the 16-storey building for $3 million.
Mayor Don Darling says the first phase of work will see city hall consolidate its six-floor footprint in the tower.
“We’re going to have a whole new city hall presence from the ground level, over four floors,” Darling said.
Darling said the reduced space also means savings for taxpayers — to the tune of more than $10 million over the 15-year lease.
Great news and more momentum. Saving money for citizens and helping catalize growth = win/win. #growsj https://t.co/9Jf6hG62VR
— Don Darling (@dondarlingSJ) December 5, 2018
The city has hired TOSS Solutions to design the new city hall space and oversee the construction, which is expected to begin in early 2019.
Darling said council meetings will be moved to the eighth floor while the work is happening, but he does not foresee any issues.
“If we think there’s going to be a case where there’s going to be a tremendous people showing up for something, well we may go to an overflow site for that one meeting,” he said.
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Story by Brad Perry
Twitter: @BradMPerry
Email: perry.brad@radioabl.ca
(File photo/Acadia News)
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