Public Notice

Esther Lord Building Demolition Project – Public Comments Invited

December 21, 2023 – Fisheries and Oceans Canada must determine whether the proposed Esther Lord Building Demolition Project, located in St. Andrews, New Brunswick is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this determination, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online.

Written comments must be submitted by January 20, 2024 to:

Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Real Property Safety and Security

Patrick Delaney

Facility Manager

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Patrick.Delaney@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

902-499-2052

The Proposed Project

The St. Andrews Biological Station(SABS) is a scientific marine research station located on the shores of the Passamaquoddy Bay, an extension of the Bay of Fundy, in the Town of St. Andrews, New Brunswick. The project involves the demolition of the Esther Lord Building, a classified federal heritage building at St. Andrews Biological Station, New Brunswick.  

The Esther Lord residence building was constructed in 1905 with the intention to be used as a residence with private rooms for the scientists working out of SABS who required a place to stay during their studies. Following the site assessment in 1972 by the Department of Public Works, and the site assessment by Public Service Procurement Canada (PSPC) in 2018, it was determined that the current residence building is not suitable for a modern office and/or laboratory space. The building was closed to all staff in 2019 following concerns relating to health and safety and its condition has since further deteriorated. Currently there is no DFO or SABS program requirement for this space and therefore this surplus asset does not support the department's mandate or core program needs. The department has worked with the Federal Heritage Building Review Office (FHBRO) over the last years to identify the best ways to honor the memory of the building before the demolition process can begin. 

The Esther Lord building's heritage value has been preserved through the completion of the following actions by DFO: 

• Residence Building #5 (Esther Lord Building) webpage and virtual tour of the site developed and posted to the external DFO webpage for the general public in both the official languages. 
• A Heritage Recording was conducted by PSPC, documenting hundreds of images of both the internal and external infrastructure of the Esther Lord Building.