Move to expropriate Fredericton exhibition grounds will ‘destroy’ NBEX: councillor

The City of Fredericton has voted to expropriate land that’s been home to the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition for more than a century.

All but one Fredericton city councillor voted in favour Monday night of expropriating the exhibition grounds that have been home to the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition for almost 80 years.

While the city owns the 30-acre property, there’s been a long-standing lease agreement in place between the city and NBEX. That renewable agreement was supposed to expire in 2031.

Council voted in favour of buying out the lease, stating the grounds are necessary to build much needed housing, and a new school to replace George Street Middle School.

“While Council values and respects the agricultural traditions in our community, we are making a responsible decision to secure the leasehold interest on this site from NBEX for houses and apartments, a modern, accessible school for our youth and related community assets,” said Mayor Kate Rogers in an emailed statement. “With this decision, City Council is putting the needs of our community first as we follow a fair process that considers the interests of our leaseholders.”

Coun. Steven Hicks was the lone vote against the move.

He said while the site has been underutilized in recent years, and an eye sore, the city is “going about this the wrong way.”

“That land was donated to the agricultural society almost 200 years ago for the purposes of holding an annual agricultural exhibition,” he said.

Hicks told council the reasons being cited to expropriate the lease are ‘housing and a school, those aren’t even municipal responsibilities, they are provincial responsibilities.’

“I’m predicting one of two things are about to happen. We either destroy the NBEX with this move or end up in an expensive court battle with them. Or both,” he told council. “Leadership is about finding middle ground and that’s not what we’re doing here.”

The city and NBEX have been discussing the site’s future for years, including a joint committee established in 2021. But the city says that committee has delivered “no meaningful progress to date.”

But the NBEX executive director still feels an agreement could be reached.

“While we’re disappointed by the city’s recent actions, we’re optimistic that open dialogue and shared commitment will lead to a positive outcome. We’re ready to keep working together to make these projects a reality,” said Rae Tretiak in a statement.

The plan is to set aside 11.9 acres for the province to build a new school. The rest will be for housing.

A statement from the city says the NBEX will be “compensated for the appraised fair market value of the lease.”

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