NBEX exec. director ‘blindsided’ by Fredericton council vote to expropriate grounds

The New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition says it feels blindsided by Fredericton council’s decision to expropriate the fair grounds.

The New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition’s (NBEX) executive director says the organization was “blindside” by a Fredericton city council vote this week to take control of the 30-acre property at the bottom of Smythe Street.

But Rae Tretiak says he believes a mutual agreement is still possible between the city and NBEX.

“We will remain steadfast in our approach to resolving something,” says Tretiak.

Debate about the future of the NBEX grounds has been ongoing for more than 35 years, with a committee struck in 2021 to formalize discussions.

Fredericton City Hall says the committee has delivered “no meaningful progress to date.”

The property was gifted to the city more than 200 years ago from the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition Agricultural Society No. 34 for the purposes of holding an agricultural festival each year. A long-standing lease between the city and NBEX is set to expire in 2031.

Council voted in favour of buying out the NBEX lease on Monday night, stating the grounds are needed for housing and a new school to replace George Street Middle School.

Coun. Steven Hicks was the lone vote against appropriating the grounds.

Tretiak says discussions with the city, to this point, have reached every benchmark and deadline, acknowledging that “in this day and age, people want things to hurry up and get done.”

“But we have a right and due diligence to our organization, to the hardworking volunteers behind the scenes, to make sure the offer presented is fair and just, so everyone around the table wins.”

Tretiak says the NBEX is favourable to a new school on the property, a redevelopment of the Smythe Street and Saunders Street Corner lot for housing, as well as maintaining agricultural space.

“We’d love to have a school here,” says Tretiak. “We’d be foolish not to.”

Mayor Kate Rogers declined an interview request Tuesday, but in a statement says, “with this decision, city council is putting the needs of our community first.”

-With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown

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