New BrunswickThe New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition has started tearing down its racetrack grandstand after months of uncertainty. The organization has decided to comply with an order from the city to demolish the grandstand. The city had over a dozen safety concerns with the structure.Exhibition challenged the order, was denied by Fredericton’s public safety committeeOliver Pearson · CBC News · Posted: Dec 03, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition has begun work to demolish its grandstand. Rae Tretiak, the executive director of the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition, said that work will cost around $400,000. (Oliver Pearson/CBC)The New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition has complied with an order from the City of Fredericton to demolish its grandstand.The city issued a notice on Sept. 9 under a bylaw for dangerous or unsightly premises over safety concerns it had with the grandstand.N.B. Ex challenged the order and failed, leading to the decision to start demolition work around a week ago.“We challenged the city and wanted to further clarify the reason into the teardown,” said Rae Tretiak, executive director of the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition.”Once we understood that more clearly, we took it to our board who voted in favour to get the job done.”The city’s public safety committee heard the challenge on Oct. 16.The appeal decision was signed by five city councillors — Eric Megarity, Bruce Grandy, Steven Hicks, Greg Ericson and Jason LeJeune — as well as Deputy Mayor Jocelyn Pike and Mayor Kate Rogers.WATCH | Crews start work on grandstand teardown:Exhibition Grounds grandstand starts to come down after city orderThe New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition has begun demolishing its racetrack grandstand. The City of Fredericton ordered the demolition in September and upheld the decision after an appeal.Documents from the committee’s decision show that the officers were concerned about rusted components, asbestos, lack of safety guards, litter and fall risks.The original notice to comply listed 13 concerns with the structure, which the exhibition argued were irrelevant since it wasn’t being used by the public.The exhibition said that the grandstand was boarded up to prevent access but, according to a city bylaw officer, plywood could easily be removed or a ladder could be used to access the seating area.The bylaw officers heard in the challenge added that “a chance or possibility of injury is all that is required” for the grandstand to be a hazard.CBC News asked the city for an interview about the grandstand but spokesperson Marley McLellan said in an email that the city has “nothing further to add on this matter.”On Oct. 24, the exhibition’s grandstand was boarded up and some entrances were blocked with concrete barricades. (Michael Heenan/CBC)The grandstand, which sits next to the exhibition’s horse racing track, closed in 2017 and has been boarded up since 2023, according to documents from the decision. The track that the grandstand sits in front of still sees some use from horses but hasn’t held official races since 2016. There are still some horses in the barns on the grounds.Tretiak said the exhibition is still in conversations about what will happen to the grandstand site. He said it could be part of the area that will become a new middle school.Now, crews are working to take those boards off and remove the rest of the grandstand from the site.Tretiak said that work will take two or three months and cost the exhibition around $400,000.Crews have removed the debris and panelling that was below and around the grandstand’s seating.After the structure comes down, the concrete slab will come out as well to comply with the city’s order to leave no tripping hazard behind.On Dec. 1, crews worked on gathering debris on the roof using cranes. After all this is done, Tretiak believes they’ll begin dismantling the steel structure. (Tara King-Stewart/CBC)The original notice said failure to follow the order could result in a category F offence fine — which ranges from $240 to $10,200, according to the Provincial Offences Procedure Act — multiplied by the number of days until the exhibition follows the order. The City of Fredericton said it won’t be giving the exhibition a fine for delays.A historic grandstandTretiak said people have been dropping by the Exhibition Grounds to take a look at the grandstand one last time. He said a lot of people have history in the grandstands throughout the years, including himself.Some may also remember a royal visit from Queen Elizabeth in July of 1959.“The Queen of England was here and, on the history books, it’s stated [that] this was the first place she did experience her first horse race,” said Tretiak.Queen Elizabeth visited the Exhibition Grounds to watch horse racing in July of 1959. To her left is Lieutenant Governor J. Leonard O’Brien and to her right is Prince Philip and Premier Hugh John Flemming. (Provincial Archives of New Brunswick/P374-12)The Queen was joined by Prince Philip, Lieutenant Governor J. Leonard O’Brien and Premier Hugh John Flemming to take in the action.Expropriation backdropDispute over the future of the grandstand is taking place as discussions about expropriation continue.The city is moving through the process of taking back full control of the Exhibition Grounds, which it owns, and leasing to N.B. Ex.Tretiak said he couldn’t give an update on where that process is at now.“It is with the legal representatives from both sides and we’re confident we can work towards a common goal here.”The process just passed the Nov. 17 deadline for objection which four parties filed. Fredericton Exhibition Ltd., Trouw Nutrition Canada, 2 Pats Enterprises and William’s Seafood filed objections, according to expropriation officer François Carrier.It is unknown yet when those arguments will be heard.ABOUT THE AUTHOROliver Pearson is a reporter at CBC New Brunswick. He can be reached at oliver.pearson@cbc.ca
N.B. exhibition begins demolition of grandstand, following city orders
