Greg McCann, the project engineer for Fredericton’s Officers’ Square revitalization project, said the square will be ready to host events by July 1.
“We had some music event planners down, walking through the stage to see what kind of an act they can bring in for the new stage building,” he said in an interview.
Fredericton began planning for the revitalization in 2018. That caused some controversy, as residents raised concerns about trees and a historic fence being removed.
In response, the city adjusted its construction plans to save some mature trees, and is now working with the Wolastoqey Nation to preserve a paleo-shoreline archeologists discovered at the site.
The city had been planning to open a new skating track in January 2024 but it opened last month, ahead of schedule.
“It’s been full every day since the day it opened. There’s a lot of skating happening, so it’s exceeding what we could have envisioned so far,” Mike Walker, the Engineering and Operations assistant director, said.
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Curt Nicholson said he’s lived in Fredericton for over 40 years.
“I think the finished product is starting to look good. And we’ve got people of course concerned about the loss of trees and so forth, but sometimes we have to do things to make it better,” he said.
Kaden Major came to the rink to skate with a friend.
“It’s a good open space for people. They’re building a stage over there I guess, so it’d be nice to see some concerts over here or something,” he said.
Peter Smith arrived at the square to skate with his children.
“I think the development of downtown is good. It gives us more things to do in town, helps the city grow and helps us have more activities to do here,” he said.
McCann said in addition to completing a new soundstage, the city will add paver stones, reinstall the repainted canons and add lighting to the outside of the museum.
“As long as we use the space, and the people use the space, it’ll be great,” McCann said.