News Release
York Street Train Station Added to Local Historic Places Register
March 29, 2010
City Council has officially added the former York Street Train Station to the Fredericton Local Historic Places Register.
“The Register is a list of buildings and archaeological sites, areas or spaces that Council deems to be of local historical significance,” said Mayor Brad Woodside. “We are very pleased to see the work that is currently under way to restore and preserve this historic property for future generations.”
The two-storey station was constructed by the Rhodes-Curry Company of Amherst, Nova Scotia in 1923 for the Canadian Pacific Railway. It replaced the original wooden station that was built 1869.
The railway station not only ushered in a new era of passenger traffic in Fredericton but eventually became the hub of an industrial enclave, anchored by the Hartt Boot & Shoe Company, at what was then the outskirts of town.
Under the auspices of the Fredericton Railway Company, the city welcomed connection to the Western Extension of the European and North American Railway and the march of progress that it represented. The new railway link promised to open communication between Fredericton and the world and provided year-round access to the main shipping port at Saint John.
Before the Second World War, the York Street train station served both the CPR and the CNR, and was known as Union Station. The station’s operation was reduced to freight service after passenger traffic ceased in the 1960s. The CPR withdrew its remaining operations from the building in 1990 and sold it to the New Brunswick Southern Railway, a subsidiary of J.D. Irving Ltd., in 1995. It was protected from demolition by the federal Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act.
The building features a decorative tapestry brick exterior, erected atop a sandstone foundation. The two-storey central section has a medium-hipped roof. The projecting entrance canopy has a gable roof supported by brick columns. The building has a variety of window openings, including large rectangular windows and round, arched windows.
In September 2009, the Province of New Brunswick reached an agreement with J.D. Irving Ltd. to lease the property for a new liquor store. Under the deal, J.D. Irving Ltd. is restoring the exterior of the station and leasing the refurbished building for 20 years to Alcool NB Liquour. The interior brick walls will remain intact, and the historical detail will be incorporated in the interior décor.
Fredericton City Council established the Local Historic Places Register in 2003 to raise awareness of historic places and encourage their conservation. It is administered by the City of Fredericton Preservation Review Board.