They were older than Canadian confederation itself. And they survived the great Saint John fire of 1877 which burned about 80% of the then existing city. But, they couldn’t survive local government.
The three Saint John jellybean houses, so-called because of their colourful paint, are gone. The three houses in this major city in the east coast province of New Brunswick were built as the city prospered in the 1860’s. They are -or were- rare remaining examples of what is known as “Second Empire” style. One had been the first lending library in the city.
The Saint John Non-Profit Housing had an option on the property and says the colourful heritage houses, a well-known tourist attraction, will be now be replaced by an apartment building
The city bought two of the historic houses in 2008 for a project that was never realized and subsequently left the houses abandoned and without heat allowing pipes to burst and cause extensive water damage.
The city claimed the buildings were too far gone to save.
The third house had been privately owned and a resident said the buildings had marble fireplaces, brass heaters, and hand-carved mouldings.
At least three developers had put forward last minute proposals to buy and restore the buildings, but their proposals were rejected. One of the developers, Andreas Holmes, said the buildings were in better shape than some other projects he’d taken on in the past.
“It’s a crime scene” L Seymour-tourist guide
A local city tour guide, Lori Seymour, was quoted by CTV news saying, “It’s a crime scene: speaking architecturally, historically, for our tourism industry and for the citizens of Saint John,” Also quoted by CTV was local resident Brian Russell, “City hall just pays no attention to heritage and pays no attention to the will of the people,”
One city councillor Donna Reardon, quoted by the CBC said, “ There are 36 acres on the peninsula, across the street here, which are vacant. So there’s lots of vacant spaces, like why take those buildings down?”
Police had to be called to remove protesters from near the site. One man, an art teacher, wanted to save some of the carved woodwork but was told he’d be arrested if he tried.
Many say this loss will hurt the Saint John tourist industry
CBC-Matthew Bingley- Twitter video
And then, there were none. The final Jellybean Building comes down in this sequence. pic.twitter.com/Vsb4uMLaWw
— Matthew Bingley (@mattybing) April 8, 2017
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