After spending $5.6M, N.L. hits pause on Stephenville Crossing courthouse development (original) (raw)
The province has hit pause on a project that would see an old college building in Stephenville Crossing, be converted into a courthouse and government services building.
Mayor says the announcement is "beyond devastating"
Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The former College of the North Atlantic building in Stephenville Crossing, known as the Martin Gallant Building, was supposed to be refurbished to include provincial government services and a courthouse serving the Bay St. George area. (Colleen Connors/CBC)
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has hit pause on a project that would see an old college building in Stephenville Crossing redeveloped into a courthouse and government services building.
Mayor Lisa Lucas said the announcement was “beyond devastating.”
“This was something that had brought a great deal of optimism to our community when it was announced,” she told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning.
"This was a chance to revitalize our community, to attract even more investors into the community."
The previous Liberal government had started renovating the Martin Gallant Building — previously used by College of The North Atlantic (CNA) — after concerns were raised about the accessibility of the provincial building in nearby Stephenville.
The current courthouse eventually was remodelled for accessibility features but only several years ago. (Colleen Connors/CBC)
In 2019, Bill Jones told CBC News his mother — who uses a wheelchair — had no way to enter the building to get photo identification. Jones filed a complaint to the Human Rights Commission, and the province announced the redevelopment in 2022. Eventually, an elevator was added to that building.
Millions already spent
But on Wednesday, the new Progressive Conservative government announced that both the Martin Gallant Building redevelopment, and the construction of a new school in Cartwright are halted.
So far, the province has spent 5.6milliontocomplete19percentoftheStephenvilleCrossingproject,and5.6 million to complete 19 per cent of the Stephenville Crossing project, and 5.6milliontocomplete19percentoftheStephenvilleCrossingproject,and2.6 million on the project in Cartwright with less than six per cent of the work completed.
In a statement to Radio-Canada, a Department of Transportation spokesperson said the government had previously estimated the redevelopment would only cost $8 million.
But after work started, the price tag went up, and in May 2025 a $28.6-million contract was awarded.
Stephenville Crossing Mayor Lisa Lucas is angry that a project she describes as much needed that was already millions of dollars underway has been cancelled for her community. (CBC)
The statement went on to say the most recent cost projections went up to $40 million, and the contractor raised concerns about “significant challenges” due to only having a “partial design” at the time of tender.
In a news release on Wednesday, the department said it's reassessing the project to "ensure the most efficient approach to delivering accessible government services."
But Lucas wants the provincial government to realize the time and money that has gone into the project so far.
“We have a labour pool who worked there, who some of them gave up their jobs away so that they could be home to work in their own community,” she said, adding other businesses have made investments based on spin-off promises made by the contractor.
But for now, only a shell of a building is left behind.
“We're not happy with that by any means. I mean, that was a viable building until they put their hands to it,” Lucas said.
“It doesn't make sense to me to say that it wouldn't remain here. There's no reason for it not to.”
Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.
Corrections
- A previous version of this story showed an outdated picture of a provincial building in Stephenville that had only stairs to gain entrance. The building did receive an accessibility update with an elevator and ramp several years ago.
Jun 08, 2026 2:39 PM EDT
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abby Cole is a journalist with CBC News in St. John's. She can be reached at abby.cole@cbc.ca.
With files from Newfoundland Morning