Necessary or too far? Concrete pillars surround N.B. legislature for security reasons
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 45° 57.566 W 066° 38.172
19T E 683166 N 5092257
The New Brunswick Legislative Assembly Building houses the seat of government for the province and is surrounded by other ancillary government buildings.
Waymark Code: WMV1B3
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Date Posted: 02/06/2017
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member DnRseekers
Views: 12
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As a sign of the times, in 2016 the province of New Brunswick began a $300,000 to $400,000 project to protect the Legislative Assembly Building from vehicle-driven terrorist attacks by installing concrete pillars in strategic locations around the building. Of course, there are those who say that they won't afford the level of protection desired. Hopefully we'll never have the chance to see if the detractors were correct. In any event, CTV news published an article on the protection project on October 21, 2016, which can be read in full further below.

In 1880, the year construction on the Legislative Assembly Building began, the Second Empire architectural style was very much in vogue for government buildings in Canada. This building, designed by architect J.C. Dumaresq and completed in 1882, did not buck that trend.

The actual seat of government is spread among a trio of buildings, the other two being immediately adjacent to the Legislative Assembly Building. They are the Departmental Building, designed by architect R.C. Dunn and built in 1888 in the Romanesque Revival Style, and the oldest of the three, the Neoclassical Old Education Building, built in 1816, with upper floors of the Second Empire Style added in 1869. Together, the three form the Legislative Assembly Complex.

As a whole, the three, as the Legislative Assembly Complex, have been declared a Provincial Historic Site.

An 11 page booklet relating histories of the people, places and events that helped shape the province is available HERE.

The Historic Places Canada account of the Legislative Assembly Block is reproduced in part below.
Necessary or too far?
Concrete pillars surround
N.B. legislature for security reasons

CTV Atlantic
Published Friday, October 21, 2016 8:37PM ADT
Work crews in New Brunswick have been installing new concrete pillars lining sidewalks and roads leading up to the legislature to try and stop any vehicle-driven terrorist attacks, but some say they won’t protect the building.

The concrete pillars were a recommendation by the federal department of Public Safety to stop any vehicles, potentially carrying bombs, to get close to the legislature. It comes after the attack in Ottawa on Oct. 22, 2014, when a man carrying a gun was able to drive up to the entrance of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in and storm inside. The pillars go four-feet underground, and 123 of them will wrap around the legislative grounds with a decorative rod iron fence around each one. It’s one of many security measures the New Brunswick government is implementing, the others can't be revealed.

The price tag is $300,000 to $400,000, and some believe the pillars are a waste of money and that they take away from the esthetics of the surrounding legislative grounds.

"They’re a waste of time and money. If a terrorist wants to get in, they're going to get in, period," says one Fredericton resident. "It always looked really nice here and I think it takes away from the look of it. And I have to agree, I don't think it's going to deter anybody that wants to get in," says another.

Some disagree, and say something needed to be done.

“I think it's a measure of prudence and due-diligence," says David Charters, who has studied and consulted on security measures. "If you didn't do it and somebody out of the blue did drive a vehicle onto the grounds and set off a bomb, people would ask questions." New Brunswick isn't the only province that's taken its security to the next level. Nova Scotia’s legislature already has an iron fence on its grounds. Because of federal recommendations, ithas also improved lighting and added security cameras as well as other recommendations being kept secret.

“There's no question there has been security changes here, as there has been across the country,” says NS premier Stephen McNeil. “The incident that happened at Parliament Hill I think caused all assemblies across the country to have a look at security.”

Nova Scotia has spent about $105,000 on their security upgrades.
From CTV News
Type of publication: Television

When was the article reported?: 10/21/2016

Publication: CTV News

Article Url: [Web Link]

Is Registration Required?: no

How widespread was the article reported?: regional

News Category: Arts/Culture
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