The former sugar refinery is deemed not suitable for residential or commercial development and requires mitigation efforts before the public can access the area due to sea level rise and storm surge.About three hectares of the site will need to be raised to avoid storm surges in future weather events.Ian Fogan, the City of Saint John’s commissioner of utilities and infrastructure, said the project is multi-purpose, but adds the site has been a challenge to develop.
“It is a contaminated site,” he said.
Fogan explained some remediation has been done, but it wouldn’t be suitable for anything but a green space. Approximately $6.2 million will be paid for by the city. The remaining $4.2 million is intended to come from the federal Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund.
“(There are) two pieces. One is to raise the site above sea vulnerability level and in doing so you’re also sealing over the contaminants that are in the site,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “But raising it and by capping it, you’re now creating a space that is safe for people to go on.”
The old sugar refinery was a large industrial building abutting the ocean. Old photos from the provincial archives show a sea wall being built and replaced. It began operation in 1915 and was demolished in 2004.
The project will have a stormwater sewer component to help the municipality improve its ability to drain large quantities of rain and stormwater.