BY BARB SWEET

The Telegram 9/13/00

St. John’s developers hoping to head off demolition of the historic Belvedere orphanage and convent complex have had no takers so far to convert the buildings into leased commercial or office space.

Myles-Leger Ltd. vice-president Bill Clarke said Tuesday he and his brother, Randy, haven’t given up hope yet, but they’ve been unable to attract any commercial clients, nor provincial government offices.

“We’ve talked to government. There doesn’t seem to be anything right now in the offing,” Clarke said.

Commercial operators, so far, don’t seem interested in the building because of its secluded location between Newtown Road and Bonaventure Avenue. Time is running out for the centre- city buildings.

The company, which purchased the 7.5-acre property from the Sisters of Mercy for $500,000, originally planned to tear down the orphanage and convent, but gave it a nine-month reprieve in March. The deadline runs out in December.

Myles-Leger Ltd. met with Deputy Mayor Marie White, chairman of the city’s planning committee, and others Tuesday for an update.

“The situation we discussed with them is we’ve not had much success to date,” Clarke said.

White said there’s a will to preserve the buildings and efforts will have to be stepped up to “entice” tenants.

City staff are reviewing a proposal made recently to council to create an incentive program for heritage buildings that would ease in taxes on them.

White is also hoping for a public outcry to save the Belvedere buildings. City council had already given a demolition permit to the Sisters of Mercy to raze the two-storey St. Michael’s Convent, which is more than 170 years old, and the four-storey orphanage, built in 1885.

The convent, built in 1826-27 by lawyer and politician Hugh Alexander Emerson is the third-oldest structure in the city. It was sold in 1847 to Bishop Michael Fleming as accommodation for the Franciscans and it is where Fleming died in 1850. Traffic concerns

Myles-Leger Ltd.’s revised application for 48 upscale townhouses, as well as a mini-mall with 12 condominiums and five commercial spaces, was to be presented today to city council’s planning committee.

The project started out as about 100 townhouses, but was reduced because of concerns about traffic, access to the subdivision, and the close proximity of three schools.

Residents are concerned about the commercial portion of the proposal, fearing it will attract teenagers to loiter around the area.

Clarke said the residents got the wrong idea about the commercial outlet, believing it to be like strip malls on Torbay or Topsail roads.

What we’re proposing is a neighbourhood mini-mall, he said.

The Clarkes first proposed their development in the fall of 1999.

A year later, Nova Scotia-based grocery conglomerate Sobeys is proposing to build a supermarket and small townhouse development on the nearby former Shamrock Field.