New provincial courthouse to be built in downtown Fredericton

A new courthouse will be built in downtown Fredericton after the project was quashed by Premier Blaine Higgs's government close to three years ago.

The province announced plans for the 110,000-sq.-ft. buildingin a statement on Monday, noting that $7.5 million was set aside for theproject in its 2021-22 capital budget.

The new courthouse is expected to be built by the year 2025on King Street between Regent and Carleton streets, a parcel of land owned by John K. F. Irving's Commercial Properties Ltd.

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The building will feature advancements in security and safety, as well as smart features such asvideo conferencing technology.

"The time has come to replace the aging courthouse on Queen Street," Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Jill Green said in the statement.

"After due diligence, we have found our preferred location. It is central and easy to access. We will continue to work with the Department of Justice and Public Safety on the development of a modern courthouse."

For morethan 40 years,the courts in Fredericton have been housed on Queen Street in what used to be the New Brunswick Teachers' College and before that the provincial normal school, also where teachers were trained.

The former Liberal government planned to spend$76 million to refurbish the Centennial Building, which has a heritage designation,and puta new courthouse where the south wing used to be.

The courthousewas supposed to be ready by March of last yearand house provincial court, the Court of Queen's Bench and the New Brunswick Court of Appeal.

A multi-phase tender process

Preliminary site investigations will be completed "as soon as possible."

The building will be constructed using a multi-phase tender process, beginning with site preparations, foundations and structural steel before moving to the final building construction.

The first project tender is expected to be posted by the fall of 2021.