New Playhouse to be built on Fredericton City Hall parking lot

The City of Fredericton has announced the site of the proposed performing arts centre will be on the site of the York Street parking lot by City Hall

Mayor Mike O'Brien made the announcement at his first State of the City address in Fredericton Thursday night. O'Brien said the new performing arts centre has been the number one capital priority for the city for a while now, adding it's not feasible to upgrade the aging Playhouse.

• Fredericton affirms commitment to performing arts
• Fredericton Playhouse urges municipalities to support replacement
• Fredericton performing arts centre loses potential funding

O'Brien said the new location is a good fit.

"A new performing arts centre would fit there and it would really help spur on our city centre plan, which envisions a lot more development down towards facing the riverfront,"

O'Brien said ground wouldn't break on the new centre until 2018 and it will be another three or four months before conceptual art of the new centre would be released.

Parking issues, flooding risks

Building the centre on the parking lot would mean less parking in the downtown, but O'Brien said this is an issue that would have to be dealt with anyway.

"We know that at some time in the near future we may have to build a new parking garage somewhere in the city. Whether it's going to be spurred because of the performing arts centre, or not, that'll all come out in the wash," said O'Brien.

The parking lot where the new performing arts centre is to be built has flooded in the past andO'Brien said this fact would be taken into consideration when designing the centre.

"Obviously, the new building will have to be positioned high enough to be out of the flood risk, but our engineers and the designers and architects have the ability to design for that," he said.

Will neighbouring municipalities chip in?

The proposed performing arts centre has already seen roadblocks. The city had hoped neighbouring municipalities would chip in to help cover the cost of building the centre.

Some communities, such as Hanwell and Fredericton Junction, rejected requests to kick in money.

O'Brien said it isn't too late to convince communities to contribute.

"There's still plenty of time to go and talk to them and I can get involved as well," said O'Brien.

"A strong performing arts centre located in the city of Fredericton is a great cultural asset for everybody, including people who live in the areas outside our city."