Members of the Fredericton Exhibition Centre (FREX) are asking for the public’s support to keep the grounds at the current location in downtown Fredericton to help ensure the success of the New Brunswick Exhibition going forward.
Capital Exhibition Centre executive director Mike Vokey said the City of Fredericton wants to move the exhibition off of Smythe Street, which he said could negatively impact attendance. The City has reported they are looking to redevelop the land for high-density housing programs and green space.
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The City of Fredericton currently owns the land and leases it to the FREX board of directors for specific event uses. Vokey said they have a perpetually renewable lease with the city that renews every 21 years. He said the only way the city can go back on the lease is if there isn’t an Exhibition for three years in a row.
Vokey said while the city does hold the deed for the land, he wants people to know the history.
He said the O’Dell family formally gifted and deeded the property for the exhibition grounds to the Agriculture Society, that now runs it, in 1924. He said the conditions were that the property always be used for agriculture, entertainment, and the Exhibition. After the war, Vokey said the city and the Exhibition signed an agreement in 1984 to transfer the deed to the city.
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Vokey said the city hasn’t officially reached out to them to negotiate the lease, but council voted this week to move to negotiate a settlement agreement with the FREX.
“If the city wants to talk to the Exhibition they need to negotiate with us and negotiate the existing lease,” Vokey said. “We haven’t been presented any options so that we can look at it and say you know that that’s good’, but worse than that we haven’t even been approached to say ‘ya know, if we find a spot, what does it need? What are your needs?'”
This week the members put out a call for support through the organization’s Facebook page, stressing the importance of the current location. Vokey said they are willing to consider moving if the city can offer them another “prime downtown location”.
He said fairs that have moved out of the downtowns of cities usually don’t succeed.
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In an email statement from Fredericton Mayor Mike O’Brien, he said as the landlord of the property the city has to approve any sublease of the and any zoning changes that are required.
Based on two Municipal Plan public engagement consultations, O’Brien said residents have a growing interest in seeing the land redeveloped for “year-round use for high-density housing projects and green space”.
O’Brien said since the 1990s, the buildings on the ground of started to show their age. Horse racing no longer exists and there have been noise complaints received during various different events.
He said the city is willing to work with the board to help create new traditions while maintaining old ones.
City officials say the next step is to sit down with FREX board members to discuss the issue.
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