You might say that the city stinks, but the people are really friendly though…

Pollution grime stains Saint John landmark
Persistent air pollution in Saint John is being blamed for blackening the roof of one of the city’s most recognizable buildings.

The 8,000-seat Harbour Station is the city’s primary entertainment venue. It hosts big-name entertainers and is home to the Saint John Sea Dogs, a men’s junior hockey team.

But lately, the building has been putting on a different kind of show outside, where you don’t have to buy a ticket.

Harbour Station is covered in a rubber membrane that’s supposed to be sky blue, but increasingly has been turning black, coated with air pollution.

The industrial city is home to an oil refinery, pulp mill, factories and manufacturing plants. Irving Oil is now considering a plan to build a second refinery, and has partnered with a Spanish company to build a Liquid Natural Gas terminal east of the city.

All that activity is pumping pollution into the air, and Harbour Station manager Mike Caddell says the pollutants, trapped by the city’s summer fog, are largely to blame for what’s been happening to the building.