Restoration of military landmark celebrated
Published Thursday, January 20, 2011
Mike Mullen, Telegraph-Journal
SAINT JOHN — It was a case of back to the future for one of the city's most historic military landmarks on Wednesday.
Elegantly restored with the latest in green technology by Commercial Properties Limited, the 1842-built Ordnance Building on lower Sydney Street was officially reopened as one of the city's newest contemporary office spaces during a ceremony featuring a ribbon-cutting by Wellness, Culture and Sport Minister Trevor Holder.
“The Ordnance Building has been an important part of Saint John's history for more than a century and will continue to fill this role for years to come,” company president John F. Irving said of the three-storey, 15,000-square-foot stone structure. Its metre-thick walls survived two world wars and the Great Saint John Fire of 1877.
Elizabeth Weir presents John F. Irving a plaque for being the first building of its kind to achieve Efficiency NB’s new Prescriptive Path with the Smart Start program for commercial construction.
“We're thrilled to be a part of the next chapter for this landmark and to be part of the team working to attract people to the downtown core of Saint John to work, learn and live.”
Irving said he was “delighted” that Dillon Consulting, a carbon-neutral engineering and consulting firm with more than 700 employees across Canada, shared his faith and vision in the project by becoming the building's main tenant in December.
Dillon's employees have occupied all but one-half floor of the space designed to accommodate an office staff of 70. A second tenant will fill that space, Irving told reporters, but he said he was not prepared to reveal its name yet.
“This restoration project has truly brought this building back to life,” Holder said.
“The Ordnance Building will not only bring more people into the south end to work and live, it serves as a wonderful example of the potential that exists for other restoration projects in this area.”
Others who took part in the opening ceremony included Mayor Ivan Court, Dillon Consulting office manager David Creber and Elizabeth Weir, president and CEO of Efficiency New Brunswick.
All participants showered praise on Irving for the passion he has shown for heritage reconstruction and his commitment to energy efficiency.
Weir presented a plaque to Irving in recognition of that commitment.
John F. Irving, president of Commercial Properties Limited, speaks at the official reopening of the Ordnance Building at Barrack Green on Wednesday.
“The Ordnance Building has had an interesting past and now, thanks to this extensive restoration, this 170-year-old building will have an even more interesting future as one of the most energy-efficient commercial buildings in the province,” she said.
“Congratulations to John Irving and Commercial Properties for this exemplary project.”
The building was restored to high energy efficiency standards and has the potential to be more than 30 per cent more energy efficient compared to those constructed to minimum requirements of the Model National Energy Code.
Located at 274 Sydney St. at Barrack Green, just a stone's throw from Tin Can Beach, the Ordnance Building was originally built by the Royal Engineers as a 2 1/2-storey structure. It was built of local limestone, except for its shingled roof. Its purpose was to house military stores and equipment, artillery, and serve as the working office for the British military engineers.
One of only a handful of structures to survive the Great Fire of 1877, it lost its roof to the inferno and came close to being destroyed.
Wellness, Culture and Sport Minister Trevor Holder speaks during the official reopening Wednesday. He cut the ceremonial ribbon.
It was left standing with a gaping black hole where its shingle roof had been.
The structure was rebuilt then and again in 1911, when it was enlarged and made a full three storeys in height. At that time, the roof was also changed to copper in Second Empire style like that of the adjacent Barrack Green Armouries.
Renovations were also made to the structure in 1956.
An office in the newly refurbished Ordnance Building at 274 Sydney Street at Barrack Green. The building was constructed in 1842.
During the restoration process, work was shut down on the lower level for a week to allow a team from the New Brunswick Archeological Services to carry out a five-day dig beneath the lower floorboards. The team discovered a number of artifacts from the time of the Great Fire, including bayonets, trigger mechanisms and other military hardware.
The items found have been archived for future study and display in the Archeological Collections of New Brunswick.
The Ordnance Building joins other landmark properties in the Commercial Properties Limited portfolio, including Somerset Square, CenterBeam Place, Brunswick House and the Red Rose Tea Building.