City won't save 1700s farmhouse on site of proposed housing project

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The City of Fredericton won’t be buying an abandoned farmhouse dating back to the 1700s on the site of a proposed housing development near the city’s southwestern edge.

City council voted unanimously Monday to turn down an offer for first right of refusal to buy, move, and refurbish the former farmhouse, known as the Gay Farmhouse, at 464 Golf Club Rd., the site of Cedar Valley Investments’ proposed 950-unit development on a vacant farm lot between Golf Club Road and Prospect Street.

First right of refusal would have given the municipality the chance to buy the building, but a report from local firm Ace Engineering, which was hired to inspect the structure, said it was beyond repair.

A staff report presented to council said Ace’s report identified serious structural issues and deemed the building “not currently fit for human occupancy.” It also said “a significant amount of remedial work would have to be undertaken to restore the structure to a safe condition, and relocation of the structure offsite is not feasible.”

“The structure suffers from issues associated with mould and mildew, sagging and uneven floors, water damage, rodents, water infiltration and containment, floor framing member rot, vertical deformation of walls and floor settlement, and inadequate structural support,” the staff report states. “If these building-related issues could be addressed, the report notes that the structure is too large to physically to relocate without significant deconstruction.”

After council approved a rezoning for the housing project last year, Coun. Margo Sheppard raised concerns about the fate of the 1700s-era Loyalist home.

She called on chief administrative officer Steven Hart to initiate negotiations for the right of refusal to acquire the building. An earlier motion requiring the developer to allow the house to be inspected to determine its suitability for affordable housing and sell it to the city for $1 was defeated.

“I’m quite interested in heritage, and we have very few Loyalist framed structures from the 1700s,” said Sheppard. “I wanted to see if we can do better, see if there’s an after-use for that building that might serve both heritage and affordable housing and be sort of a character feature for that development.”

Ace Engineering inspected the property in February and noted the two-storey farmhouse has been vacant for “many years,” with little to no maintenance, but it’s unclear exactly how long it’s been unoccupied.

Monday’s staff report said temporary bracing would be needed inside the house to move it regardless of the distance, and relocating it “could lead to failure of one or more of the major building systems.” The report

“Finally, a decision analysis undertaken by the professional engineer concludes that demolition of the structure is the best engineering decision,” the report states.