The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[ErickMontreal]

Yeah I figured, there hasn't seemed to be much public interest in pursuing the casino idea in Saint John I guess we're too busy with our other developments right now which are either unrelated (industrial) or already planned (Coast Guard site, North of Union, etc.), whereas Moncton is looking for the project to be a major piece of a new development.

We dont have major industrial proposals but there are other significant projects underway like Uptown Dieppe, Aquatic Center, Marriott, Mapleton and Hampton Inn. Moreover, the courthouse is scheduled to start this summer.

[ErickMontreal]

Molson Moncton
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/2330912047_2c928b8815_b.jpg

By Molsonblog :: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23266041@N02/2330912047/sizes/l/

[michael_d40]

We dont have major industrial proposals but there are other significant projects underway like Uptown Dieppe, Aquatic Center, Marriott, Mapleton and Hampton Inn. Moreover, the courthouse is scheduled to start this summer.


uh oh... here we go with another pissing competition

[mmmatt]

uh oh... here we go with another pissing competition

I think he was just saying it as an update for people who possibly didnt know, I dont see any problem with kwajo mentioning some ongoing SJ projects for a reference/update so whats wrong with mentioning some Moncton ones for a referance/update? On the Moncton forum at that...

[mmmatt]

I cant wait for some more info on these proposals to become available! some renders would be awesome!!! :D

[mmmatt]

Well, I think the first three are proposed in Moncton.

1) Magnetic Hill
2) Dieppe
3) Downtown

WOW I certainly hope the third one is for downtown Moncton...Paragon Gaming has done some nice casinos...for examples:

Vancouver (edgewater casino)
http://www.building.ca/common_scripts/xtq_images/27048-21608.jpg

River Cree Resort
http://www.paragongaming.com/images/projects_river_cree.jpg

obviously anything built in NB would only be 1/2 as nice but still...they have a good track record for sure.

[ErickMontreal]

WOW I certainly hope the third one is for downtown Moncton...Paragon Gaming has done some nice casinos...for examples:

Awesome ! Thank you for the renderings.

This time Verdiroc seem to be really serious, they got some really strong partners. A Casino, Convention Center, Hotel, performance venue, restaurant along with the new Courthouse could transform the core dramaticly and positively as well.

[kwajo]

I think he was just saying it as an update for people who possibly didnt know, I dont see any problem with kwajo mentioning some ongoing SJ projects for a reference/update so whats wrong with mentioning some Moncton ones for a referance/update? On the Moncton forum at that...
Yeah I only mentioned a few Saint John projects because they are located Uptown, implying that since we have a number of things on-the-go right now - none of which have even mentioned the inclusion of a casino - that I doubt a proposal was submitted to the province out of nowhere.

Obviously both cities have a lot of great projects on the go, I just don't think SJ is looking for a casino to spur urban growth right now, whereas it would stand to be a significant factor in Moncton's downtown development of hotel/convention centre areas.

[mmmatt]

Awesome ! Thank you for the renderings.

This time Verdiroc seem to be really serious, they got some really strong partners. A Casino, Convention Center, Hotel, performance venue, restaurant along with the new Courthouse could transform the core dramaticly and positively.

Indeed, and its looking more and more like it will happen...I just hope Veridoc does not "pull a Veridoc" so to speak haha :P

[ErickMontreal]

Indeed, and its looking more and more like it will happen...I just hope Veridoc does not "pull a Veridoc" so to speak haha :P

I wish...! Moreover, I could see Cyr using another Marriott brand ( Fairfield, Renaissance Hotels, Courtyard, Conference Centers, TownePlace Suites) for the hotel. Finaly, the casino could be the best way to finance the "convention center" project. I hope the province will understand whats this project could represent for the Downtown Moncton.

[ErickMontreal]

NB unveils for proposals for province's first casino

http://www.news919.com/casino.jpg


March 13, 2008 - 5:16 pm
By: News 91.9 Staff

FREDERICTON, NB - Four companies are vying to build and operate New Brunswick's first casino.

Finance Minister Victor Boudreau says his department will now review the proposals to determine which is the best one.

The proposals are from the following companies:

CEI Investment Corp
Dieppe Resort and Casino Limited
Maritime Casino ULC
Sonco Gaming Limited

According to the request for proposals, the inclusion of additional services such as meeting or trade convention facility, harness racing, hotel, theatre, restaurants or recreation facilities will weigh heavily in the assessment process.

Boudreau says the chosen project must be open by the end of 2010.

The casino would be built and operated by the private sector, but the Liberal government expects to collect about $25 million in revenues.

Last November, the province announced it would reduce the number of video lottery terminals in the province by 625 by April 2009, but would allow up to 800 slot machines at the casino.

[ErickMontreal]

Convention Center/Hotel renderings

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/66/shreveport20convention2ag4.jpg

http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2006_3rd/EmbassySuitesPleasantGroveRendering.jpeg

http://pueblourbanrenewal.org/main/images/cambria_1.jpg

http://www.weil-mclain.com/professionals/featured/up/07.jpg

http://www.visitingmontgomery.com/conventionCenterNight.jpg

[mmmatt]

any one of those would be amazing :D however I doubt it will be that nice...but I have been wrong before, and in this case I hope I am!!

[mylesmalley]

I cant wait for some more info on these proposals to become available! some renders would be awesome!!! :D

You're going to be waiting till May. Seems the proposals are all completely confidential.

In a way though, it kind of makes sense. If everybody knew what was on the table, the MLAs from Saint John and Moncton would end up in a pissing match to end all pissing matches.

However, I would love to see some renderings of the proposals (without locations) or at least the numbers involved (hotel rooms, cost etc).

[mylesmalley]

[SIZE="3"][B][FONT="Arial"]Convention

http://pueblourbanrenewal.org/main/images/cambria_1.jpg


I like all of them except this one. It's smaller than the Hampton Inn...

[mmmatt]

You're going to be waiting till May. Seems the proposals are all completely confidential.

In a way though, it kind of makes sense. If everybody knew what was on the table, the MLAs from Saint John and Moncton would end up in a pissing match to end all pissing matches.

However, I would love to see some renderings of the proposals (without locations) or at least the numbers involved (hotel rooms, cost etc).

Yeah anything at all would be nice really...oh well we will just have to wait I guess...

[mmmatt]

I like all of them except this one. It's smaller than the Hampton Inn...

oh wow...thats a decieving image...it looks bigger than it is...but when you look at the cars it puts it in perspective :haha:

[skyscraper_1]

Convention Center/Hotel renderings

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/66/shreveport20convention2ag4.jpgThis iis the best proposal.


http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2006_3rd/EmbassySuitesPleasantGroveRendering.jpeg
Wow, magnetic hill is bigger than I remember.:haha:

[ErickMontreal]

This iis the best proposal.

Wow, magnetic hill is bigger than I remember.:haha:

I like it :haha:

[kwajo]

This iis the best proposal.


Yeah, too bad it's in Shreveport, not Moncton.

[ErickMontreal]

The acticle pointed that all projects have been proposed by companies located in Moncton. In fact, Sonco Casino Gaming New Brunswick used Casino Moncton as well as Casino New Brunswick as other name in "Gazette Royale", we could speculate that they have planned to built it here.

Maritime Casino ULC : Cyr, Verdiroc, Mariott and Ashford - Downtown
CEI Investment (New Brunswick) Corp (Chateau Royal) - Magnetic Hill
Dieppe Resort and Casino Limited - Dieppe


In French Only
Quatre projets de casino : la région de Moncton est-elle la seule en lice?

à 18h45 le 13 mars 2008
Steve Hachey - Jminforme.ca
steve.hachey@jminforme.ca

FREDERICTON - La Commission des loteries du Nouveau-Brunswick a annoncé, aujourd'hui, que quatre promoteurs ont soumis des propositions pour construire, équiper et exploiter un complexe de destination casino dans la province. Toutefois, impossible d’en savoir beaucoup plus que le nom des promoteurs et de leurs partenaires.

Impossible, donc, de confirmer l’emplacement proposé pour ces projets, mais avec un peu de déduction, de recherche et beaucoup de spéculations on sait que les quatre projets ont des liens avec la région de Moncton.

Premièrement, il y a le Dieppe Resort and Casino Limited, qui, si son nom n’induit pas en erreur, serait proposé à Dieppe ou dans la région.

Ensuite, il y a le Maritime Casino ULC. Dans la liste de partenaires, on retrouve Cyr Holding, de l’homme d’affaires de Moncton Bernard Cyr, et Ashford Developments, une compagnie qui a déjà des terrains au centre-ville. On sait que Ashford est un partenaire de Verdiroc qui depuis des années a des projets pour le développement du centre-ville de Moncton.

Il y a aussi CEI Investment (New Brunswick) Corp. Une recherche dans la Gazette Royale permet de découvrir qu’elle est également enregistrée sous le nom de Château Royal. C’est exactement le nom qui a été employé dans les médias pour décrire un projet de casino qui pourrait voir le jour à l’extérieur du centre-ville de Moncton, possiblement dans la région de la Côte magnétique ou même au terrain de golf Royal Oaks.

Le plus compliqué semble être, le Sonco Gaming New Brunswick Limited Partnership. Cette société qui est enregistrée au Nouveau-Brunswick est située sur la rue Saint-Georges à Moncton. Reste à savoir si l’adresse postale a en effet un lien avec l’emplacement proposé. Lorsque questionnée, la compagnie a refusé de commenter, par crainte d’être écartée du processus. Toutefois, une recherche a permis de découvrir qu'elle était aussi enregistrée sous le nom de Casino Moncton et de Casino New Brunswick. On peut en déduire qu'elle a, à un moment donné considéré, Moncton pour son projet.

Évidemment, il ne s’agit là que d’indices qui démontrent que tous les projets ont des liens avec la grande région de Moncton. Il ne s’agit aucunement de preuves tangibles sur lesquelles on pourrait conclure sans l’ombre d’un doute que la région de Saint-Jean ne fait pas partie des projets proposés.

Et possiblement qu’il ne sera jamais possible de connaître la teneur de toutes les propositions. Marc Belliveau, porte-parole du ministère des Finances, explique que seule la proposition choisie sera dévoilée.

«C’est très très très réglementé ce processus-là. Le public saura le projet qui a été accepté et ce qu’il contient. Les autres auront été rejetés et vont retourner à ceux qui les ont proposés. L’information va demeurer privée », a expliqué M. Belliveau.

La prochaine étape consiste à évaluer rigoureusement les propositions. Les équipes évalueront les propositions par rapport aux critères préétablis.

Les promoteurs ont été priés d'inclure les services auxiliaires, pouvant inclure, entre autres, une installation pour les courses de chevaux Standardbred, un hôtel, un théâtre de création, des salles de réunion ou de congrès, des sites d'événements spéciaux, des restaurants, des salons ou restaurants de spécialité, ou des installations récréatives.

Les évaluations seront examinées également par un groupe d'experts de concertation. Tout le processus est surveillé par KPMG, une entreprise internationale de conseillers en processus, qui assure également la surveillance de l'équité pour le projet.

Pour l’instant, même le ministre des Finances, Victor Boudraux, n’a pas vu les projets qui ont été proposés. Toutefois, il se dit heureux de voir l’intérêt des promoteurs.

«Dans une province de la taille de la nôtre, cela est une excellente représentation des soumissionnaires intéressés», a souligné M. Boudreau.

La prochaine étape est l'évaluation des propositions. Nous sommes heureux du fait que le processus de demande de propositions se déroule comme prévu.»

Le Nouveau-Brunswick serait la huitième province à avoir un complexe de destination casino au Canada.

http://www.jminforme.ca/article/239613;pageune

___________________________________________________________________________________

[Alberta Bound]

The acticle pointed that all projects have been proposed by companies located in Moncton. In fact, Sonco Casino Gaming New Brunswick used Casino Moncton as well as Casino New Brunswick as other name in "Gazette Royale", we could speculate that they have planned to built it here.

Maritime Casino ULC : Cyr, Verdiroc, Mariott and Ashford - Downtown
CEI Investment (New Brunswick) Corp (Chateau Royal) - Magnetic Hill
Dieppe Resort and Casino Limited - Dieppe


Interesting. The question is which Moncton company or companies are proposing to build a casino in Saint John.

[ErickMontreal]

Interesting. The question is which Moncton company or companies are proposing to build a casino in Saint John.

Good question. However, Maritime Casino ULC and CEI Investment (New Brunswick) Corp already said they will propose something here. Maybe Sonco Casino Gaming New Brunswick (Moncton Casino) is for SJ.

[ErickMontreal]

Odds increase for Moncton casino
All four bids to build casino have Metro Moncton connections

By Jesse Robichaud
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Friday March 14th, 2008
Appeared on page A1

Even the Liberal government's best poker face can't hide the signs that suggest Metro Moncton will be home to New Brunswick's first and only casino in 2010.

Finance Minister Victor Boudreau placed very few cards on the table when he announced the four business groups bidding to construct a casino in the province yesterday, but what was said appears to have increased the odds of a casino being built in Metro Moncton.

While media reports have focused on a showdown between Moncton and Saint John in the casino sweepstakes, there are several indications that suggest that all four bids accepted by the province converge in southeastern New Brunswick.

The bids come from four business coalitions struck between a mix of local, national, and international companies with experience in the fields of casino development, design, and capital investments.

Boudreau stated that representatives of the business interests involved in the bidding process have been asked to sign confidentiality agreements and avoid contact with MLAs until the winning bid is expected to be announced in May.

However, the information that is available offers credence to speculation that suggests Moncton-based projects will dominate the government's selection process.

The first consortium named by Boudreau is CEI Investments (New Brunswick) Corp., which is also incorporated under the name Chateau Royale in the provincial government's corporate affairs registry.

Chateau Royale has been reported to be looking at casino sites on the outskirts of Moncton. Moncton businessman David Hawkins has been reported to be acting as the front man for the New England business interests. Boudreau confirmed that Carabetta Enterprises Ltd, a Connecticut-based financial company, is backing the proposal, along with Century Resorts International Ltd., which is subsidiary of Colorado-based Century Casinos. The Colorado firm operates 12 casinos around the world including one in Edmonton.

The second bidding proponent named by Boudreau today was Dieppe Resort and Casino Limited. The name alone indicates that the bid is likely based in Dieppe. The proposal is backed by Toronto based Dundee Realty Corporation and Buttcon Energy Inc. construction firm, and ADI Group Inc., a Maritimes-based engineering and design firm. Rumors have swirled over the casino-potential of land near Fox Creek Golf Club.

The third proposal announced comes from Maritime Casino ULC, which brings together local heavyweights like Bernard Cyr's Cyr Holdings. Inc, and Ashford DG Holdings, Inc, with global giants like Marriott Hotel International.

New Millenium Equities and Paragon Gaming Inc., of Las Vegas, round out the Maritime Casino proposal. Cyr, who constructed the Chateau Moncton on the edge of the Petitcodiac River on Main Street, is well known for his success in several business ventures and has been active player in downtown development for many years.

The combination of Cyr's involvement and the participation of Marriott, which is currently in the final stages of constructing a six-storey Marriott Residence Inn on Main Street, is a strong indication that Maritime Casino ULC is proposing a downtown project.

Moncton's Ashford firm has in the past been linked to Toronto-based Verdiroc in the development of a proposed downtown convention centre, and has completed the renovation the old YMCA headquarters on Highfield Street. The local firm has also been involved in further developing the Power Centre of Mapleton Road.

Paragon, which represents the project's gambling expertise, has developed two casino projects with First Nations communities in Edmonton and Whitecourt, Alberta, and another independent project in Vancouver.

Finally, Sonco Gaming New Brunswick Limited Partnership was the last proposal named by Boudreau, who proceeded in alphabetical order.

Sources indicate that the project is indeed a very broad partnership being lead by Sonco Gaming New Brunswick Limited. Sonco's Halifax parent company developed and currently operates a casino project with an Alberta First Nation community.

Sonco reportedly signed an agreement to share the project's profits with 13 of New Brunswick's First Nations communities. Elsipogtog, the province's largest First Nation community located near Richibucto, and Red Bank did not sign on to the agreement.

While Sonco has signed agreements with First Nations communities across the province, the fact that Sonco is also incorporated under the names Casino New Brunswick and Casino Moncton indicates they are interested in a Metro-based project.

There is speculation that Sonco's bid would place a casino near the Royal Oaks Golf Course on the outskirts of Moncton.

Clairvest Group Inc, a Toronto-based equity investment firm, will provide the project's capital, while Naveante Group Inc., a Las Vegas based casino developer founded by former MGM Chairman and CEO, Larry J. Woolf, will provide the gambling expertise for the Sonco project.

The government's evaluation process, which will likely take until the end of May, will take place outside of the influence of the Liberal government, said Boudreau.

"They will evaluate each of the four proposals and arrive with a recommendation for government. It is really a process that it outside of government completely,"said Boudreau, likening the process to the procedures followed previously to choose major highway projects.

Boudreau did not indicate whether bids had been refused for providing insufficient information.

He said five individual teams, made up of civil servants, Atlantic Lottery officials, have been set up to evaluate various elements of the proposals.

"Each element, for example, of each bid will be evaluated. We will look at the business plan, the impact on the local economy, we will look at the other developments that come with the destination casino."

Boudreau noted that the financial track record of each company involved would also be taken into account.

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/front/article/240290
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

One-in-four chance
Casino Four bidders announced for the development project; location still unconfirmed

MEGAN O'TOOLE
TELEGRAPH JOURNAL
Published Friday March 14th, 2008
Appeared on page A1

FREDERICTON - The odds are set: Each proponent has a one-in-four chance to win the bid for New Brunswick's destination casino project.

Finance Minister Victor Boudreau revealed Thursday a list of four bidders for the project, which is expected to breathe new life into the province's tourism sector. Based on the names involved, it appears likely the casino is headed for the Moncton region, though Boudreau would not confirm a location.

"Government is very pleased with the interest which has been shown in this project," Boudreau said, noting the next stage will be a rigorous evaluation process that will involve gaming experts and be monitored by an international consultant.

The proposals will then be brought to ad hoc committees and cabinet blind, without the bidders' names attached.

Proponents - which include the CEI Investment (New Brunwsick) Corp., Dieppe Resort and Casino Ltd., Maritime Casino ULC and Sonco Gaming New Brunswick Ltd. Partnership - have been gagged from speaking with the media or MLAs until the bidding process is complete.

Links to Moncton are evident among all four proponents.

Ashford DG Holdings, Inc., the Moncton-based partner of Toronto's Verdiroc Development Corp., is a member of Maritime Casino ULC. Verdiroc has gone public with its desire to build a gambling centre on the former Beaver Lumber property in downtown Moncton.

"It would make Moncton just a fantastic place to have a convention at, visit, (attract) tourism, do business; it would bring so many components," Verdiroc president and CEO Kevin Green said in an interview with the Telegraph Journal. "The opportunity to make downtown Moncton completely special, one of the superstars of Atlantic Canada, is definitely in our hands."

Marriott Hotel International is also a member of Maritime Casino ULC, and a new Marriott hotel is under construction just minutes from the former Beaver Lumber site.

CEI has been reported to be looking at two possible Moncton sites, Royal Oaks Estates and Magnetic Hill.

Sonco Gaming was listed in the government's Royal Gazette earlier this year as being registered in Moncton. As for Dieppe Resort and Casino Ltd., the link is in the name - the city of Dieppe is directly west of Moncton.

Some of the larger players that had been floated as potential bidders were noticeably absent from Thursday's announcement, including Trump Entertainment Resorts and Great Canadian Gaming.

Howard Blank, vice-president of media and entertainment for GCG, said his company spent a substantial amount of time working on a casino proposal. But financial constraints ultimately forced the firm to make choices about what it was going to move forward with, and other projects were prioritized, he said.

"The cost of doing business has changed dramatically in the last six months," Blank said. "We spent enormous due diligence in New Brunswick ... but unfortunately it just wasn't something we could go through with at this time."

The company wants to leave the door open to working on gaming projects in the province in future, he added.

Opposition Leader Jeannot Volpé said the Tories approve of the procedures set out by the Liberals for evaluating the proposals and said his party will monitor the process strictly.

"We will follow this one very closely to make sure they do not try to go away from the system," he said.

The deadline for selecting a preferred proponent is May 15. Boudreau said Thursday that the complex, which will be financed by the private sector, is expected to be operational no later than Dec. 31, 2010.

The casino's gaming floor will offer a maximum of 800 electronic gaming devices and a minimum of 12 conventional table games. It could also include a poker area, keno, off-track betting or a lottery ticket kiosk.

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/240093

[ErickMontreal]

Four proposals submitted for NB's first casino, observers give Moncton edge

March 14, 2008 - 6:54 am
By: News 91.9 Staff

FREDERICTON, NB - Four companies are vying to build and operate New Brunswick's first casino.

According to the request for proposals, the inclusion of additional services such as harness racing, hotel, theatre, restaurants or recreation facilities will weigh heavily in the assessment process.

The casino would be built and operated by the private sector, but the Liberal government expects to collect about $25 million in revenues.

Early speculation has Saint John and Moncton as the frontrunners for the attraction, with most observers giving Moncton the edge.

A successful bid for Saint John could mean a life line for the struggling harness racing industry.

A casino in Moncton could be the center piece to a downtown development project almost 10 years in the making.

Already there are opposing views on whether it will be a success.

Peter McKenna, a political studies professor at UPEI has just written a book on the gaming industry in Atlantic Canada and says he doubts a New Brunswick casino will get enough traffic to be successful, even if it's in Moncton.

However, Bill Rutsey, president of the Canadian Gaming Association says the government and the four proponents wouldn't have gone this far if they weren't confident of success.

[kwajo]

observers give Moncton edge

Well considering that at least 3 of the 4, if not all 4 of the proposals are for the Moncton area, I'd say these observers are really going out on a limb with that prediction :rolleyes:

[JasonL-Moncton]

I truly believe that once the Quebec partner backed out of the Saint John racino concept that any rfp from SJ was done.

[mylesmalley]

Rocker Thorogood to play Moncton

Published Friday March 14th, 2008
Appeared on page A2
Blues rocker George Thorogood, known for hits "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," "Get A Haircut" and "Move It On Over" among many others, is on his way back to Moncton, according to his official website.

Thorogood's website lists him and his band The Destroyers playing the Moncton Coliseum on June 7. The website also lists dates in Summerside (June 5) and Halifax (June 6).

Thorogood was last in Moncton on April 14, 2004.

No other information about the upcoming show was available at press time.

[mmmatt]

So 3/4 or possibly 4/4 of the proposals are for Moncton? Interesting

[ErickMontreal]

Downtown :: Main Street/Mechanic Street

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/2334278952_9ef5cee7e7_o.jpg

1 :: Heritage Holding : Courthouse Proposal, 123,000 S/F (Opening : 2009)

2 :: Fortis Properties : Blue Cross Center extension : 57,000 S/F, Class A (Completed)

3 :: Southwest Properties : Mariott/The Keg : 6-Story, 137-Rooms/Parking Garage. (Opening : June 2008)


Downtown :: Assumption Blvd
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2321/2333671283_f0e8399085_o.jpg

4 :: Verdiroc/Ashford/Cyr Holding/Paragon Gaming/Marriott International (Proposal)

Casino
Convention Center : 60 000-70 000 S/F
Hotel : 150/300-Rooms
Performance Venue/Theater
Restaurants
Multi-storey parking Garage

5 :: Assomption-Vie :: On Hold.

[ErickMontreal]

Metro casino would become business magnet
Hotels, restaurants, entertainment centre built around casino would generate income, help city attract more visitors and events

BY ALAN COCHRANE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF
Published Saturday March 15th, 2008
Appeared on page A4

A casino in Metro Moncton would act like an anchor store in a shopping mall to draw in other businesses and draw more special events or conventions to town, the president of the Canadian Gaming Association said yesterday.

Hotels, restaurants, bars and other forms of entertainment and recreation that surround the hotel will become a big part of the attraction.

"In the gaming world, there is more and more reliance on additional forms of revenue other than gaming," Bill Rutsey said yesterday. "Developers want to have a more complete attraction and experience for the patrons. Gambling is the anchor, but you need to offer people a place to stay, a place to go for a meal and maybe a drink, go golfing or whatever else they want to do."

The facilities and businesses that surround an actual casino are commonly referred to as ancillary services, and they become part of the big package that draw in visitors.

New Brunswick is now beginning its review of proposals from developers who want to build and operate the province's first casino. And a big part of those proposals will be the ancillary services that make up the complete package.

Details of the proposals are being kept secret and representatives of the companies involved in the bidding process have been asked to sign confidentiality agreements until the winning bid is announced in May.

That means it could be a while before people of Metro Moncton know what the actual proposed casinos will look like, and exactly where it might be located. The bids submitted this week indicate the casino will likely be built in Dieppe or Moncton, but the exact location is unknown.

But Finance Minister Boudreau has said additional services and attractions around a casino would play a big part in which proposal is accepted.

That leaves people in Metro Moncton to speculate on what it might look like, where it would be located and what kind of businesses or services would surround it.

Rutcey said the companies submitting proposals to build and operate the casino would have hired expert consultants and marketers to determine what kind of services would work best in certain locations. The proposals would include the size of the casino, the number and type of games it would have and extra facilities.

Rutcey compared it to building a shopping mall, and finding a variety of businesses and services to surround the anchor stores.

He speculated that if the casino was built in a downtown area, developers might enter into a partnership with existing hotels and restaurants. If it was built in a "green field" area, it would likely incorporate hotels, restaurants and convention centre space into an all-new development. Eventually, other businesses would likely fill in the spaces to take advantage of the increased traffic flow.

The type of businesses, services and facilities that surround a casino would depend on local market demand, Rutcey said. In some places, like Las Vegas, casinos have built amusement parks designed for children in an effort to create a family-friendly destination. Parks that provide daycare allow parents peace of mind as they drop off the kids on the way to the casino.

Another possibility is a larger entertainment complex. Some casinos have large ballrooms that can host big shows.

Daniel Allain, executive-director of Downtown Moncton Centre Ville, said there is a good business case to put a casino in the downtown and that it would help future development.

"Opportunities like this don't happen too often, so let's hope the government looks at this option seriously," Allain said.

Marc Chouinard, general manager of the Capitol Theatre, said yesterday he'd still like to see a large room that could host crowds of about 3,000 people for bigger shows. The Capitol itself has a seating capacity of 800.

People involved with standardbred horse racing have also been pressing to have a new track included as part of any casino development.

Moncton Mayor Lorne Mitton says the city is sitting tight on the casino issue for the moment as the province examines the proposals. He said the city isn't permitted to offer any enticement to the companies involved in the process or speculate on what those proposals might include.

Mitton would only say the city is open for business and will give a serious look at the winning proposal if it is offered to Moncton.

Moncton has also been wrestling with the idea of a new convention centre and/or a large new hockey arena in the downtown core. The new Marriott Hotel downtown is rapidly taking shape next to the Blue Cross Centre but there are still several open areas and many vacant business spaces along Main Street.Rutcey said a convention centre, arena, more hotel rooms and business space could all be brought together with a casino into an attractive package that would help draw in special events and conventions.

He said various professional groups, associations and special events look for the entire package. A casino is not what is going to determine whether someone like that goes to Moncton versus Halifax, but the surrounding services could do it.

"The more you are offering groups or associations that are planning their convention or special event, the better the chance that they will come."

Minister clarifies position

The Atlantic Lottery corporation (ALc) will not be involved in the selection process for a casino in the process.

On Thursday, Finance minister Victor Boudreau announced the four business alliances that were competing to win the nod from the provincial government to build a casino that will open in 2010.

Boudreau mistakenly told reporters that ALc would be a part of the selection team, and retracted his comment yesterday. He clarified the government’s position.

However, ALc is involved developing the new policies and standards for the new video lottery program, which is also included in the province’s “responsible gaming” policy.

[PersonPlaceorThing]

However, Bill Rutsey, president of the Canadian Gaming Association says the government and the four proponents wouldn't have gone this far if they weren't confident of success.

I agree that the developers are probably confident and that's a good sign.

However, saying that the governemtn wouldn't go this far on a bad idea seems a little naive...

[mylesmalley]

The government doesn't really have anything to lose from the casino project. They've made it clear the entire plan must be paid for and built by the private sector. Even in the unlikely event that it goes belly-up, the only money they'd lose is the revenue they wouldn't have had anyway if they hadn't agreed to gambling in the first place.

[mmmatt]

Nice job on the diagrams Erick! Really shows how much change and infill we will hopefully see within the next 5 or so years...and thinking further (10-15 yrs) maybe a new stadium downtown as well.

[ErickMontreal]

Nice job on the diagrams Erick! Really shows how much change and infill we will hopefully see within the next 5 or so years...and thinking further (10-15 yrs) maybe a new stadium downtown as well.

Thank you Matt. I just hope the government going to choose downtown location. To me, this is the naturel choice to ensure downtown long-term viablity, vibrancy as well as development. Downtown is the heart of the city it is the place tourists used to visit first. You could not just put Casino at the edge of the city without substantial impacts on inner city business climate. I wish government officials and KPMG are aware of it.

[mmmatt]

Thank you Matt. I just hope the government going to choose downtown location. To me, this is the naturel choice to ensure downtown long-term viablity, vibrancy as well as development. Downtown is the heart of the city it is the place tourists used to visit first. You could not just put Casino at the edge of the city without substantial impacts on inner city business climate. I wish government officials and KPMG are aware of it.

I agree, if it ends up going elsewhere other than downtown I will be extreemly annoyed...we already have enough investment on the edges of the city ...but obviously the government has no control over that...in this case they have the choice to better the city by forcing development on downtown where it belongs!

[ErickMontreal]

I agree, if it ends up going elsewhere other than downtown I will be extreemly annoyed...we already have enough investment on the edges of the city ...but obviously the government has no control over that...in this case they have the choice to better the city by forcing development on downtown where it belongs!

Very accurate. Moreover, the majority of Casinos all over North-America are located Downtown, I dont see why Moncton would be different.

[ErickMontreal]

Downtown webcam
http://www.moncton.org/webcams/mainstreet1/Snapshot.jpg?0.19962284825351562

[mmmatt]

oh nice they angled it much better, now you can see Assumption etc, very nice

[mylesmalley]

Big improvement on the webcam.

[JasonL-Moncton]

Big improvement on the webcam.

Well, the angle is improved but you may not have noticed they've pulled 'farther' away from the intersection, which increases the need for better clearity...the image itself is garbage and the stream is slow.

I e-mailed my city councilor about it the other day.

Jason

[ErickMontreal]

Casino Moncton?
Exploring the potential impacts of a casino in the Hub City

By James Foster
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Tuesday March 18th, 2008
Appeared on page D1

The fact is, there are casinos in almost every bar in New Brunswick, not to mention inside every computer that has the ability to go on line, proponents of a destination gaming facility in Moncton argue.

But, opponents counter, building a casino won't do anything to undo the harm being done to society every day by gambling.

And so it goes.

When it comes to casinos, the only certainty is New Brunswick will soon be the eighth province in Canada to host one, the ninth if one includes P.E.I.'s racino.

Depending on who you ask, this is going to be a wonderful or a terrible thing for New Brunswick -- and for Moncton should the winning proponent choose to locate its new casino here, a location many observers feel would be the best spot for a gambling palace.

The issue has been studied to death in every community that has ever considered adding a casino, and that includes Moncton where a citizens' committee examined the issue in 2001.

"But they've never fairly and openly looked at the impact in terms of livelihoods of people who lose everything they have due to gambling," says Rev. Terrance Trites, who served on the committee.

Trites has personally seen the face of pathological gambling and feels promises by casino proponents and governments to fight problem gambling never quite live up to the hype.

Others argue a casino would be but a minor addition to a province awash in legal gaming already, with 2,600 VLTs at play in bars daily, lottery tickets of every description, legal and illegal card games, charity bingos and 24/7 unregulated gambling online.

Jean Belliveau of Shediac makes the trip to the Halifax casino once a year.

"If I would so choose," Belliveau says, "I could gamble my life away at any lotto booth or at any computer, even at work. Having one casino in New Brunswick will not spell the end of the world."

In fact, bus tour companies are making money selling inexpensive ($25 and up) trips to Halifax's Casino Nova Scotia, with the cost of the fare offset in many cases by discount food, hotels and playing chips. One source in Halifax estimates that upwards of 12,000 Metro Monctonians take buses to Casino Nova Scotia every year, which is noteworthy given that casinos are not impressive economic generators unless they attract outside money. That number also does not include Moncton-area residents who arrive at the casino by car, train or aircraft, though it does count frequent visitors from Moncton more than once.

Research suggests casinos are likely not evil incarnate, but nor are they the economic panacea that some perceive them to be. Destination casinos that draw tourists from afar create a far greater economic impact than local casinos, which simply redistribute local money.

While proponents tout a New Brunswick casino as a great asset for drawing tourists, there is no illusion that a gaming facility will thrive without the vast majority of its business coming from New Brunswickers themselves.

Moncton's Citizens' Committee on Destination Gaming examined casinos in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Halifax, and Sydney, N.S. in considering the impact of a casino on Moncton and came up with some surprising conclusions.

Indeed, casinos "can" be an economic stimulator; the bigger and better the casino, the bigger the economic impact and the fewer the social problems.

For example, Halifax police established a special gambling unit when that city's casino moved in. It was disbanded after two years when the expected increase in criminal activity failed to materialize.

Police in Sydney say their casino did not prompt more police presence in the area of the facility because it wasn't needed, with casino security taking care of any problems that arose, most of which revolved around frauds.

Six extra police officers were hired in Sault Ste. Marie when their casino opened but after only 62 calls for service were received by police in the casino's first year, those officers were absorbed into general policing duties.

Social services geared towards problem gamblers would be expected to increase with a casino, but that wasn't the case in any of the three cities studied.

Casinos do create jobs, but whether those are "good" jobs or not is subjective.

For example, Halifax's facility created 500 full-time jobs, 180 part-time positions and 120 casual jobs, with average wages of about $10 per hour, plus tips. Some suspect a casino would compete with the area's thriving call centre industry for scarce workers.

Indirect jobs spawned by a casino vary depending on whether it is a destination centre or a local casino. For example, Halifax's business community is very pleased with the wide swath of economic development surrounding the casino as nearby businesses mostly do well thanks to spin-off business from the gaming centre. Not so in Sydney, where most casino-goers are local senior women and where the casino subsidizes the costs of food and drinks to attract customers, which is not helpful to nearby restaurants and bars.

Yet one extensive survey of businesses near the Halifax casino showed only one reported an increase in sales after the casino opened, while "a few" hotels said they were enjoying more guests.

The results appear to be a mixed bag of benefits and costs.

The public perception of gambling, however, is not good on the east coast. A national survey on the topic showed Atlantic Canadians have the most negative view of gaming, with 47 per cent saying gambling has negative consequences to the community while only seven per cent said it had a positive impact.

The committee's conclusion? "The positive economic impact should not be as positive as some proponents claim, and the negative social impacts should not be as negative as opponents claim."

The committee proposed that should Moncton be chosen as a casino site, it must be the only such facility in the province to maximize economic impacts and that it must be of the highest quality possible.

The province has vowed there shall be but one casino and it will be accompanied by stronger research on problem gambling with more money to address the problem. The province will also reduce the number of VLTs operating across the province to 2,000 from 2,600 as well as strengthen and clarify its gaming policies.

Moncton has in the past cited its wish to host a casino, but as part of a larger complex that would include family activities, a hotel and a convention centre. However, city council's motion is deliberately worded very broadly, citing the city's wish to "begin discussions" on the issue.

Mayor Lorne Mitton says that's because the city wants to be sure any proposed casino complex is a good fit for Moncton. New Brunswick's municipalities have been told by the province to let them handle the file and to not lobby for a casino for their own city but rather to let the private companies involved decide for themselves where they wish to set up shop.

"So from my perspective, the less I conjecture on it, the better at this point."

The province will name its preferred casino proponent in May and logically by then, at the very latest, the public will know where that firm wants to build its casino, how it plans to share profits and all the other details.

"I suspect lots more will start happening after that point," Mitton says.

[ErickMontreal]

Effect of casino on Lotto Corp. unknown
Province reviewing proposals from four developers to operate casino in N.B.

TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF
Published Wednesday March 19th, 2008
Appeared on page A7

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation won't know what kind of an effect a casino in New Brunswick would have on its operations until plans for the casino are finalized, an ALC spokesman said yesterday.

"It's really too early to tell because we don't know where it will be," Robert Bourgeois said.

The provincial government is currently reviewing proposals from four separate developers to build and operate a casino in New Brunswick.

And although no one will say exactly where the casino will be located, there are indications that both Dieppe and Moncton are prime candidates.

If all goes according to schedule, the casino would open sometime in 2010.

Developers and other interested parties have been asked to sign confidentiality agreements until a final decision is announced.

One of the big question marks would be the number of VLTs in operation at the casino and whether that number will cut into the total quota allowed for the province.

Under the new gaming policy, which is administered by the lottery corporation, the number of video lottery sites will be cut from 625 to a maximum of 300.

The number of VLTs will also be reduced across New Brunswick by almost 25 per cent, from 2,650 to a maximum of 2,000.

Although there will be a maximum number of VLTs available for the province, the policy will not set out how many can be in a certain area, for example the Metro Moncton region.

But if a casino has a large number of VLTs, it may leave fewer licences for other establishments.

Bourgeois said the lottery corporation will likely have no hand in the operation of the casino.

If and when one is approved, it will likely include a variety of gaming tables that will be run by the operator of the casino and not the lottery corporation.

The game rooms in casinos in Nova Scotia are run by the owners.

The lottery corporation does operate the game room at the racino in Charlottetown while the actual racing is run by the horse association.

Finance Minister Victor Boudreau recently announced that Atlantic Lottery would not be involved in the process of evaluating the bids from the private companies hoping to win the casino project.

The lottery corporation is involved in developing new policies and standards for the new video lottery program, which is included in the responsible gaming policy.

The lottery corporation is owned and operated as a partnership of the Atlantic provinces and administers a variety of games.

[ErickMontreal]

Major renovation underway in the former Future Shop, I wonder if they finally got a tenant for that space.

[JasonL-Moncton]

Major renovation underway in the former Future Shop, I wonder if they finally got a tenant for that space.

Doubt it...there's major renovation going on where Don Cherry's was too, and there isn't a tenant for that yet either. I looked in there the other day and it's being broken up into retail space... :shrug:

I can't believe they are not gonna put another restaurant in the mall...dumb in my opinion... :koko:

JL

[ErickMontreal]

Ever hear of Codiac, N.B.?
National magazine's website refers to Metro Moncton as 'Codiac, N.B.'

By Eric Lewis
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Thursday March 20th, 2008
Appeared on page A1

Riverview Mayor Clarence Sweetland says it's not time to consider amalgamating the tri-community of Riverview, Moncton and Dieppe, regardless of the fact Macleans magazine has apparently already given the area its very own name -- Codiac, New Brunswick.

"No, I don't think so," he says with a laugh.

Macleans referred to Moncton, or Metro Moncton as it were, as "Codiac, N.B." in a recent feature about the most dangerous cities in Canada.

There is no Codiac in New Brunswick that the Times & Transcript -- or any person we asked -- knows of, even after endless hours of pouring through books of maps.

It's curious that Codiac, a thriving -- if fictitious -- city apparently has a population of 102,753, and no one we can find has ever heard of it.

Hmm... population of 100,000 or so, Petitcodiac River running right though it, Codiac RCMP policing the area...

"Sounds like they're talking about us, doesn't it?" Mayor Sweetland asks.

Indeed it does, and the author of the Macleans story, Vancouver writer Ken McQueen, says it is likely so.

McQueen's story highlighted crime rates from across the country, comparing them and breaking them down into different categories, ranking 100 communities in the process.

The New Brunswick cities or towns that came up in the lists were Saint John, Fredericton, Oromocto, Tracadie-Sheila and Codiac, which one would assume was a loose term for Metro Moncton, which of course is policed by Codiac Regional RCMP.

McQueen was apologetic for the blunder yesterday, but says it wasn't necessarily an error on Macleans' end. It was likely the result of the information McQueen and Macleans researcher Patricia Treble received from Statistics Canada. Treble, who was unavailable yesterday, dealt with StatsCan and the Canadian Centre of Justice Statistics, gathering the information about crime rates in communities across the country.

It would appear that somewhere between the Codiac Regional RCMP, StatsCan and Macleans, "Codiac" became a city and not a branch of the RCMP covering three major communities.

"These were the districts and the communities that Statistics Canada provided us, and we had just asked for every community or policing district of 50,000 (people) or more," McQueen says. "And this is what they chewed out for us.

This may be true, but still, in the end, the Moncton--Riverview--Dieppe area isn't one city, as may be assumed when reading the crime rate lists on Macleans' website.

Mayor Sweetland says, "Codiac Regional Police is the name of the police service, certainly, but Greater Moncton is known pretty much nationwide now, so it's very surprising that somebody thought the name was Codiac."

A phone message to StatsCan's eastern office was not returned yesterday afternoon.

McQueen did apologize, however, and he saw some humour in the situation as well.

"You're not interested in changing the name to Codiac, huh?" he asked with a laugh.

"I can understand that it would cause some consternation," he continued. "Names are a very important thing. There's an excessive trend toward amalgamation in a lot of things and homogeneity and it should be fought at every turn."

On a brighter note, Codiac ... er, Metro Moncton residents can be happy to note we fared relatively well in terms of crime stats.

Using the 2006 StatsCan numbers per 100,000 population for six crimes -- homicide, sexual assault, aggravated assault, vehicle theft, robbery plus breaking and entering -- Maclean's calculated the percentage difference from the national rate for each of the six crimes in each area.

In consultation with StatCan, the magazine gave each crime equal weights and standardized the rates to obtain an overall score that measured each area's percentage difference from the national rate.

In overall crime rankings, "Codiac" came in at number 56 on the list, coming in at 26.5 per cent below the national average. Regina, (146.3 per cent) and Saskatoon (146.1 per cent) topped the list of 100 communities. Halifax topped the list for Maritime cities, coming in at number 10, with 71.6 per cent.

For New Brunswick communities, Saint John was number 30 with 6.3 per cent, Oromocto was 75 at -45 per cent and Tracadie-Sheila was 87 with -63.2 per cent.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Cup quest begins today
Battle for Canadian university hockey supremacy gets under way at Coliseum

Times & Transcript Staff
Published Thursday March 20th, 2008
Appeared on page A1

The quest for Canadian Interuniversity Sport hockey glory begins today as the puck drops for the Cavendish University Cup at the Moncton Coliseum.

The host Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus will attempting steal the title as underdogs, while top-ranked University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds aim to defend their national title.

Of course, four of the best teams from around the country will be vying to take the Cup out of New Brunswick.

Participating coaches and players were on hand yesterday to discuss their game plan. For more on the Cavendish Cup, please see SPORT

[mmmatt]

Major renovation underway in the former Future Shop, I wonder if they finally got a tenant for that space.

Like Jason said, prolly dont have anyone lined up, but they might who knows...I think they are probably just starting thier renovations in there and they have done some work in the entrance by there too...once they finish all the interior renovation (prolly not til a year or more) I imagine traffic will increase and another tennant will be drawn in. Hopefully Circuit City or Best Buy kind of store.

[Helladog]

Codiac, a thriving -- if fictitious -- city apparently has a population of 102,753

Maybe we should consider changing the name of this thread to "The Official Codiac, NB Project Thread". Better still, how about SSP: Codiac?

[ErickMontreal]

I am currently working on a new blog under Localintheknow publishing, that is starting here : UbanMoncton |
Urbanmoncton.localintheknow.com

Soon will be UrbanMoncton.ca

Everyone is welcome !

[mmmatt]

Great Looking Blog! Keep up the good work :D

[ErickMontreal]

Survey measures Metro's newcomers
CityThink explores how many are new to the city and where they hail from

By Aloma Jardine
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Saturday March 22nd, 2008
Appeared on page A1

Metro Moncton's population has grown by thousands in the last five years, thousands who have come from every possible nook and cranny of this earth.

The majority seem to be making their way south from northern New Brunswick, but Metro is also attracting immigrants from all over the world and Canadians from across the country.

The 2006 census found that between 2001 and 2006, 23,105 people had moved to the Moncton Census Metropolitan Area, which includes Metro Moncton and some of the surrounding area.

The population only grew by 7,746 over the same period, as people also left the area, but the number of new people represents about 18 per cent of the total population.

In January, CityThink, a poll conducted by Bristol Ominifacts on behalf of the Times & Transcript, sought to find out how long people have lived here and where newcomers came from.

Of the 601 people surveyed, 10 per cent had lived here five years or less.

"You have this impression by living here that the place is growing, Dieppe in particular, with lots of people moving in," says Craig Wight, vice-president of research for Bristol Omnifacts. "I think what it does confirm, if you take the number of 10 per cent, is that there has been a lot of growth."

Only 21 of the 601 interviewed had lived in Metro Moncton for less than three years, and they came from a wide variety of places: Senegal, Houston, Goose Bay, Ontario.

A few came from Fredericton, Saint John, and Halifax, but the largest number came from parts north: Edmundston, Bathurst, Miramichi, Campbellton.

With only 21 people in the group, the findings are not statistically sound.

"But I think it sort of stands up to the intuitive test," Wight says.

"If you add Bathurst and Miramichi and northern New Brunswick together, you're up to a good chunk of those... What we intuitively know or hear seems to be confirmed here."

John Thompson, CEO of Enterprise Greater Moncton, is one who makes a point of knowing where the region's population growth is coming from and says the greatest part of the population growth is, in fact, coming from the northern part of the province.

"That is urbanization, it's happening across the country," he says. "They are moving for various reasons: access to hospitals, the retail experience, quality of life and availability of jobs."

He says the region has also been attracting more immigrants from Korea and China, plus from the various countries that make up the Francophonie.

Of the 23,105 people who moved here between 2001 and 2006, 14,600 were from another part of the province, 7,115 were from another province, and 1,390 were from a different country.

Of those who came from another country, the largest number came from Africa (315) and Asia and the Middle East (215), according to the 2006 census.

"It comes down to opportunities," Thompson says. "If you look at a company like Molson, it came into the region, it attracted a lot of people. There were about 400 people applying for 35 jobs and those people were from all over."

Opportunity is what brought Paul and Joeanne Thomson and their two young sons from Toronto to Moncton almost three years ago.

Paul grew up in Ottawa, Joeanne in Nova Scotia, but they had been living in the Toronto area for about eight years before packing up and moving here when Paul was offered the position of director of communications for the City of Moncton.

Both the professional and the personal were part of the decision: professionally, Paul jumped at the opportunity to head up a department, personally the couple have two young sons, now seven and four, and felt family-focused Metro Moncton would be a good place to raise them.

Joeanne was also thrilled with the chance to move closer to home and near at least one set of grandparents.

Joeanne says she didn't look for a job here right away as she was blessed with a very flexible employer for whom she continued working for 18 months, commuting back and forth to Toronto.

But eventually the commute got to be a bit much and she began looking for opportunities in the city and is now vice-president of business development for ShiftCentral, a market intelligence company with clients in New York, Boston, Toronto, San Francisco and other cities across Canada and the U.S.

It's the type of position one wouldn't necessarily expect to find in a relatively small city, but the Thomsons are proof you don't have to be in the big city to have a big city job, nor do you have to choose quality of life over career -- both say moving to a smaller centre hasn't impacted their career path.

But don't they miss the big city lights?

"When we first were thinking of moving, we were saying we won't have the professional sports and the museums and the theatres and the plays and then we started laughing and saying how often did we go," Joeanne says. "We need hockey and a grocery store."

They do the museums and sporting events when they visit Paul's family in Ontario, which Joeanne figures is about how often they would have went had they been living there.

"We have no regrets for the move. It has been really good for our family and career-wise it's been good for us too," Paul says. "We've made lots of friends here, we enjoy the city, we enjoy the culture. The French-English dynamic the city offers was appealing for us. Moncton has a lot going for it. It has even surpassed our expectations. We've been really pleasantly surprised at how much we like it here."

The loss of a few big city things has been made up for by the things they've gained -- like shorter commutes.

Joeanne used to travel 1 1/2 hours each way to work when they lived in Toronto.

"When I first moved here I had to meet the city manager and the assistant city manager for breakfast at Cora's," Paul recalls.

The city had put the Thomsons up at the Wild Rose Inn off Shediac Road and not wanting to be late for his 8:30 a.m. meeting, Paul was out the door by 7:10 a.m.

"I was downtown by 20 minutes past seven," he says, laughing. "It opened my eyes to how easy it is to get around here, which was a bit of an adjustment."

When they came in May 2005, they rented a place in Shediac and people kept asking Paul if he was minding the commute.

"For a long time, even getting the kids to sports and stuff, we would leave an hour early," Joeanne says. "Now we leave five minutes beforehand."

John Thompson says Enterprise Greater Moncton has been on missions to Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal in the recent past, trying to recruit people to come to the region.

He says there are many people like the Thomsons who are discovering the advantages of coming to Atlantic Canada, and it is something the agency is working to promote.

"We're connected now more than we have ever been with the rest of Canada and the rest of the world. No one feels like they are isolated," he says.

Also gone are the high unemployment rates that once plagued the region and real job opportunities are now available.

Attracting more people is going to become increasingly important for the region in the coming years to avoid a labour shortage as baby boomers retire.

"The more we spend time telling people about the region and the benefits of living in a small city, that in itself will attract people," Thompson says.

On average, the CityThink survey found women had lived in the area for longer than men (29.3 years compared to 27 years), but more women than men moved here within the last three years (7 men compared to 14 women).

More than 40 per cent of those who moved here in the last three years (nine out of 21) were between 18 and 34. Five were between 35 and 44 and only one was older than 65.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nubody's opens downtown Moncton fitness centre
Employees of downtown businesses sweat their way through lunch hours at new gym

By Yvon Gauvin
Times & Transcript staff
Published Saturday March 22nd, 2008
Appeared on page A3

Changing work trends including growing emphasis on developing healthier lifestyles for corporate employees convinced Atlantic Canada's largest fitness chain to set up shop in downtown Moncton.

Nubody's Fitness Centre at 795 Main St. (formerly Dooly's) has been open for some time now and already has about 500 members, many of them employees of businesses downtown, explained fitness centre manager Trevor Boland.

The centre caters mainly but not exclusively to the corporate market, while its Dieppe outlet is more geared for the residential members, he said.

Boland said the Moncton centre hopes to attract those people who have never worked out or who haven't for a long time with the intent to help them attain a more active and healthier life style.

Members come in seeking to reduce stress, lose weight or improve their overall health.

Companies also see the value of a healthy employee in improved productivity, less sick time and absenteeism, he said.

The centre is open seven days a week from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. with a staff of about 20.

The centre marks the fifth in New Brunswick and the 19th in Atlantic Canada. Seventeen more are planned in Atlantic Canada in the next three years, said one corporation official.

The grand opening of the Moncton centre will be held Wednesday, April 2, with celebrations beginning at 5 p.m. for members and non-members.

Grand opening week beginning Monday, March 31, will including different activities including a free Smart Set session at 5:30 p.m. to educate participants on how to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RONA not looking at Metro store
Quebec-based home renovation retailer already has over 670 stores across the country

TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF
Published Saturday March 22nd, 2008
Appeared on page A5

Canadian hardware chain RONA has no current plans to open a larger store in Metro Moncton, but isn't ruling out the idea either.

"Right now we have no plans for Moncton, but that doesn't mean we won't look at that market at some time," said Eva Boucher-Hartling, communications director for the hardware retailer. She said the hardware and home renovation chain has ongoing market research to determine the feasibility of new locations.

There have been rumours that RONA may open a second full-sized outlet in Metro Moncton. There is currently a RONA Express store on the Irishtown Road. RONA has eight affiliate stores and one corporate store in New Brunswick.

Based in Boucherville, Quebec, RONA is a publicly-traded Canadian distributor and retailer of hardware, home renovation and gardening products similar in scope to Home Depot and Home Hardware. The company operates a network of more than 670 franchised, affiliated and corporate stores of various sizes and formats across the country, and has more than 26,000 employees. The network generates approximately $6 billion in annual retail sales.

Rona is scheduled to open a new big-box store next month in the new Bayers Lake Business Park outside Halifax.

Last week, the company opened a new $15-million RONA store in Carleton Place, a town of 10,000 near Ottawa. The new concept store includes both an indoor and outdoor drive-through lumberyard and a large garden centre. The new concept stores have boutiques for products associated with paint, lighting, storage, kitchen and bathroom renovations, doors and windows; along with staff to help customers plan and carry out their home renovations.

Metro Moncton already has several large hardware/home renovation stores, including Home Depot, Kent Building Supplies, Home Hardware and others.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The sleuth
GOSSIP FROM N.B.’S FAVOURITE RUMOUR-MONGER
Published Saturday March 22nd, 2008
Appeared on page D10

A recent walk through Moncton's oldest mall this week revealed a pretty sad state of affairs.

Highfield Square has almost as many vacant storefronts as it does retailers. Even the Deluxe French Fries outlet in the food court has packed up and left!

But you know what they say about it being darkest before the dawn?

Sleuth hears that most retailers in the Square are now on month-to-month leases. The reason? Property owners Crombie-REIT has big plans for the land, starting later this year.

There have long been rumours that once the new Sobey's store was finished at the corner of Main and Vaughan Harvey, that Crombie (another company in Sobey's Empire Co.) would turn its attention to the sagging Square.

Crombie officials are being top-drawer secretive these days. So let Sleuth pose this question: Is there any truth to rumours the Square will be remodeled into an open-air retail complex, a la Dartmouth Crossing in Halifax or the Wheeler Park complex here in Monkeytown?

Something big is in the wind.

[mmmatt]

I hope they dont turn it into a power center :S they dont belong downtown!

Glad to hear Nubodys is doing well though, thats great! :)

[ErickMontreal]

Marriott work nears completion
Downtown hotel expected to open in June

http://harvest.canadaeast.com/image.php?id=106411&size=400x0
Work continues on the Marriott Residence Inn in downtown Moncton. The hotel, along with The Keg steakhouse, is expected to open in June

By Brent Mazerolle
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Monday March 24th, 2008
Appeared on page A4

Visitors to Metro Moncton should have a new downtown hotel to accommodate them by about the end of June, says an official with the company building the Marriott Residence Inn on Main Street.

Robert White of Halifax's Southwest Properties said this week the construction of the hotel should be complete on schedule by the end of May, but said Marriott will then need about a month to train staff and outfit the facility.

Marriott is currently using office space in the Humphrey Block across the street to receive applications and interview potential employees.

While the hotel is great news for visitors, the bigger news for area residents will likely be the opening of The Keg restaurant.

"The Keg is saying they would like to be running by the end of May," White said, explaining the restaurant wants a "soft opening," that is a chance to get the operation running up to speed before hotel guests arrive to add to the customers from within the community.

If past history is any indication, The Keg will need whatever time it can get, as locals seem likely to flock to the new outlet of the popular Canadian steakhouse chain.

White said, Metro Monctonians aren't the only ones enthusiastic about the hotel and restaurant.

"We're very excited to bring a hotel focused on the family market to downtown Moncton," White said. He said the extra large hotel suites with their full kitchens will be ideal for extended stays and will allow families to make Moncton the central base of their travels around the region.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Metro shines in Cup spotlight
Organizers say event highlights the high calibre of university hockey

By Aloma Jardine
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Monday March 24th, 2008
Appeared on page A1

On the ice there were winners and losers; off the ice the big winner was Moncton as the city braved the glare of the national spotlight once more and emerged as the successful host of the 2008 Cavendish Cup.

The Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's hockey championship has been held here the past two years.

"It puts Moncton and the area on the national and international map," says Normand Léger, who took care of media services throughout the event. "The game Sunday and the two games on Saturday were televised nationally and we have a number of professional hockey team scouts attending the tournament who were talking to some of the players."

Organizing committee president Marc Boudreau says they have received outstanding feedback.

"The people who have come in from the other universities are saying this is the best event that they've ever witnessed. I think we staged a really, really wonderful event here," he says.

Léger says almost 30,000 people attended last year's event and expected that once the final tally came in, this year's numbers would be only slightly less, despite some miserable weather on Thursday that kept many fans home.

While a good crowd always turns out to see Université de Moncton's Aigles Bleus, Léger says out-of-town teams also are big draws, particularly the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds.

"A lot of people came down from Fredericton," he says, not just to see their team play for the top prize Sunday night, but to their Thursday and Saturday games as well.

Boudreau says many local alumni of various universities organized get-togethers over the weekend, using the cup as a chance to catch up while cheering on their alma mater.

"It is sort of nice to see, the spirit of healthy rivalry both on and off the ice. It is fun to watch," he says.

While many fans were there to support a particular team, Léger says the event also draws those that just want to see good, high-calibre hockey.

With the Moncton Wildcats out of the playoffs, it's also the last chance to see high-level hockey locally this season.

"It is a good brand of hockey," Léger says. "It is fast and the players put a lot of heart into it."

Boudreau says the level of play this year has been especially high.

"The product on the ice, I think that was just fantastic," he says. "The calibre of university men's hockey is just second to none."

Léger says many of the players at the university level are either major junior players who have moved on to study for their degree or ex-professional players now pursuing their education.

As UdeM's athletic director, Boudreau is understandably a little biased toward the home team, but he says the most exciting moment of the tournament for him was the Aigles Bleus' win over the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

"The win over University of Alberta was just great," he says. "I was proud to see our team come out in the first period, there was a focus there, I saw these guys were prepared. We are in a division with three fantastic teams... It is not often a team that loses the first game comes back into the finals."

Léger says the tournament puts university hockey in the limelight for a moment, giving people the chance to discover how good it can be and hopefully winning over fans that will continue to support university hockey in the future.

The economic impact of the four-day event on the city is huge. Last year it generated about $1.3 million and a similar total is expected this year.

Léger says people from out-of-town make up close to a quarter of the crowd at the games and each of the five visiting teams is expected to spend about $20,000 during their stay here on hotels, meals, and transportation.

Léger says organizing this year's event was a little easier than last year's because most of the basics were already in place.

About 250 volunteers, many of whom gave their time both years the city hosted the cup, helped keep everything running smoothly.

"We are lucky in this area because we have been hosting a number of national and international events and we have a very good range of experienced volunteers and employees," he says. "We have all the ingredients needed to do a good job... We know how to do things right."

Each city hosts the cup for two years before handing hosting duties to another community. In a ceremony last night Moncton Mayor Lorne Mitton passed the banner to Thunder Bay Mayor Lynn Peterson, as her city is taking over where Moncton left off.

[mmmatt]

Good to hear more about the Marriott, its looking great! :D I cant wait to try out The Keg, Ive heard nothing but good reviews...is it the first in Atlantic Canada or is there one around here already?

[mmmatt]

Wait...just found out...web site says theres one in Hali and St Johns already, so its just the 1st in NB

[mylesmalley]

Wait...just found out...web site says theres one in Hali and St Johns already, so its just the 1st in NB

No matter, it's just great to get one.

We've been pretty lucky the last few years with new restaurant openings. I love that Montana's place on Mapleton. I think the crowds there every night agree.

[JasonL-Moncton]

There used to be a "Keg" in Fredericton years ago (early 90's), I don't know what ever happened to it...but can't wait for the one to open here!

[kirjtc2]

Yeah, there was one at King and Westmorland until ~1996. I think they said the market was too small. McGinnis Landing is there today.

My folks had a problem with the service at Montana's in Moncton once, so they're not exactly looking forward to it coming to Fredericton. Mind you, they're also excited about East Side Mario's, which I can't stand.

[ErickMontreal]

Has Metro concert scene regained former glory?
A host of big-name acts suggest Moncton may have turned a corner in quest to become Atlantic concert mecca

By Brent Mazerolle
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Tuesday March 25th, 2008
Appeared on page A1

It's not just some concerts. It's a full-blown Iconic Convergence.

Bob Dylan is expected to play the Moncton Coliseum soon, as will George Jones, Anne Murray and George Thorogood. Eternal Canadian music icon Leonard Cohen and latter-day Canadian music icon Matthew Good are playing separate shows downwtown the same night in May. April Wine will play The Rockin' Rodeo the same night Anne Murray's in town and Bluegrass legend Dan Timynski will play the new Wesleyan centre in May.

And, of course, this August, we expect to host the worst-kept secret in the Canadian concert business this year.

That's when the Eagles may or may not hit the Magnetic Hill concert site, a show that's already been reported in newspapers from Halifax to Victoria despite nothing ever being officially confirmed.

What's up with this Iconic Convergence? Has the Metro Moncton music scene now fully come of age? And never mind all this talk about Elton John possibly making Moncton another Sudbury with a concert widely rumoured to happen some time late this year?

Monica MacKenzie's not sure what's up with all the concert news, but she's one music fan who says she's happy to ride Moncton's rising tide of live music. The self-described concert junkie has been to more than 40 concerts in her "29 or so" years, often travelling to Montreal or Toronto to catch some of the bigger names. But now she can see a lot of her old favourites and adopt some new favourites here at home.

She said yesterday she planned to go to every one of the upcoming shows except the Anne Murray concert (ouch, sorry about that, Ms. Murray) and Leonard Cohen.

"I reallllly wanted to see Leonard Cohen too, but couldn't get tickets," she said, her inflection indicating "really" should be spelled with at least that many l's. The Cohen concert sold out in about 20 minutes last Thursday.

Monica said she is nevertheless plenty happy to see Matthew Good at Oxygen that night instead. She even plans to take in the George Jones show, describing the country crooner as both "authentic," and you guessed it, "an icon."

"And if the Eagles do come, I'm there for sure."

She's likely not alone, as mere rumour or not, the Magnetic Hill Eagles gig is already being described as one of Canada's big concert events of the year.

"Despite the downturn in the U.S. economy, the concert industry has performed well in Canada, partly because of the steady stream of major acts looking to cultivate new territory," said the Ottawa Citizen this week. "The Rolling Stones played Regina a couple of summers ago, Elton John landed in Sudbury this month, and word is that the Eagles are considering Moncton this summer. Shows like those are guaranteed to sell out."

The Citizen seems to be onto something. Metro Moncton's appeal just might be that it's a new territory, if not an old territory being rediscovered.

Ask anyone who's been here a while and you'll hear how major acts routinely included Moncton on their tours in the 1970s and 80s. Then came a long period where Moncton got passed by.

There were likely a number of reasons for that, but one is certainly the aging Moncton Coliseum. Its roof is not quite as low as the Main Street subway, but it's had the same chilling effect on 18-wheelers over the years, specifically the ones that haul around the elaborate light shows used by big name acts. For a time, Moncton's music scene was moribund.

Then, as everyone knows, the Rolling Stones prevented us from gathering any more moss when they descended for the biggest show of their North American tour in 2005, and the city's been gathering momentum since.

With the music recording industry in trouble because of internet downloading, concert touring has become even more of a money maker in recent years. Where musicians once toured in support of their albums, they now release new music in support of their tours.

And thankfully for Monica MacKenzie and everyone else in our region who likes live music, Metro Moncton is increasingly finding itself in the crosshairs of that continental concert crisscrossing.

Let's all enjoy that, and get out to support the shows that come our way. And let's hope Sir Elton is also taking aim at our community.

[ErickMontreal]

New articles have been posted on Urbanmoncton.ca

Check it out, thank you.

[mmmatt]

If we do get the Eagles I will flip...one of the best bands of all time, legends to be sure...Im excited already even though its not confirmed :D

[mmmatt]

New articles have been posted on Urbanmoncton.ca

Check it out, thank you.

Looking great Erick! I see you changed over to the new domain a plus for sure...and your English is top notch to say the least! :cheers:

[ErickMontreal]

Looking great Erick! I see you changed over to the new domain a plus for sure...and your English is top notch to say the least! :cheers:

Thank you for the comments Matt!

[ErickMontreal]

Moncton CFL franchise not in cards
League commissioner says proposed Moncton stadium is not 'CFL size'

TOOL HELP
By MARC HUDON
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Wednesday March 26th, 2008
Appeared on page A7

OTTAWA - The opportunities created by CFL expansion to New Brunswick would be a boon for youth, businesses and aspiring players, says a former high school football standout from Fredericton.

"I think about (a Maritime team) all the time," said Ottawa Gee-Gees all-star quarterback Josh Sacobie, who starred at Leo Hayes High School.

"There's an urgency for some professional football on Canada's East Coast."

Yesterday, the CFL announced it was expanding again, but not far enough east to satisfy Maritime appetites, yearning for a taste of Canadian-style football.

League commissioner Mark Cohon was at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa to award a conditional franchise to a group of heavyweight businessmen from the nation's capital, headed by Ottawa 67's junior hockey club owner Jeff Hunt.

The Ottawa entry is the league's ninth team.

"It's great for Canadian football. You like to see the league grow," said Sacobie. "It means more Canadian faces in the league and more opportunities for people like myself."

The Ottawa deal hinges on the group's ability to hammer out an agreement to rebuild and resurrect 28,000-seat Frank Clair Stadium.

It's a caveat Maritime football fans know all too well.

Talk of a CFL franchise in Atlantic Canada hit a crescendo in 2005 when Halifax was awarded Touchdown Atlantic -- a CFL exhibition game between the Hamilton Tigercats and Toronto Argonauts.

Moncton, in its never-ending battle with Halifax for urban supremacy in the region, saw the same opportunity to bring the game to New Brunswick.

The city formed an exploratory committee to look at CFL expansion. Mayor Lorne Mitton even travelled to Halifax with a delegation of city officials to watch the exhibition game and rub shoulders with CFL brass.

But both cities continue to face the same trifecta of stumbling blocks -- ownership with deep pockets, a strong fan base and a big stadium, said Cohon.

"I think Moncton has the same type of challenges that we have in Ottawa," he said. "Part of the challenge in bringing the CFL to Moncton or Halifax is building a stadium."

Cohon said he's encouraged by talk of a new $13-million 10,000-seat stadium at the Université de Moncton, scheduled to be completed by spring 2009.

"But it's not CFL size," he said. "We need about 25,000 seats."

A Moncton bid would also have to contend with creating a fan base from scratch, said Cohon, whereas in Ottawa, the embers in the hearts of former Rough Rider faithful are set ablaze easily by talk of storied CFL gridiron legends such as Russ Jackson and Tony Gabriel.

Sacobie said growing Canadian football on the East Coast has to start somewhere, adding an expansion franchise can quickly shore up a fan base by focusing on youth.

"Any kind of expansion -- junior football, CFL would give kids more opportunities and role models to look up to," he said. "The CFL is really good at outreach work."

Cohon said the league hasn't decided what to name the Ottawa club, adding the team won't begin play until 2010 at the earliest.

"I think what's happened in Ottawa is a good step," he said, adding no exhibition or preseason games are scheduled for the region any time soon. "The progression from nine teams to 10 teams makes sense. Now I have my homework cut out for me, looking for opportunities on the East Coast."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dieppe council adopts new municipal plan
Plan outlines where future development of city will take place

By James Foster
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Wednesday March 26th, 2008
Appeared on page A5

Dieppe has started the process of adopting its new municipal plan, essentially a map of future development of the city.

It's the first updated plan in Dieppe since 1995. Experts suggest updating municipal plans about every five years -- particularly in cities growing as fast as Dieppe -- however most municipalities in New Brunswick use their existing plans much longer than that.

While council gave first reading to the new plan at their council meeting last night, one councillor opposed its adoption. Ward 4 Councillor Gille Savoie opposed adopting it at this time because some residents and developers still have objections to some aspects of it, particularly where zoning would affect their neighbourhoods or, respectively, their potential property developments.

On the advice of Greater Moncton Planning District Commission executive director Bill Budd, council opted to proceed.

"Your plan is 95 per cent there," Budd told council. "You're never going to have a plan that will make everyone happy."

The reasoning behind adopting it now despite 26 objections to it was that those objections could be met despite the plan becoming law in Dieppe. For example, Budd suggested roundtable consultations with objectors to hear what their issues are and come to agreements on how to address them.

Such a process would only take a few months, Budd noted, adding that the plan is "a living, breathing document," and not cast in stone. Councils amend their municipal plans all the time.

The plan sets out where residential, industrial, commercial and other development will take place in Dieppe. That the plan can be amended later on did little to assuage developers who don't like the zoning of properties they are eyeing for certain types of development, nor of homeowners who cast objections to having commercial areas too close to their homes or high-density housing in the backyards of their single-family-home neighbourhoods.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Forum targets vacant lots
Making money with contaminated properties

Published Wednesday March 26th, 2008
Appeared on page C2

Leading experts in transforming empty, contaminated commercial and industrial properties into viable developments will be in Moncton today to take part in the Brownfield Awareness Forum.

The forum, taking place at the Delta Beauséjour Hotel from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is a follow-up to regional information sessions held this winter in several cities on developing vacant and under-utilized urban properties known as brownfields into a profitable venture and asset to the neighbourhood and community in terms of aesthetics, recreational and business use and increased municipal tax revenue.

The economic development initiative is being hosted by the Downtown Moncton Centreville Inc.

Keynote speakers are James Evans, senior manager of Environmental Risk in the Corporate Environmental Affairs group at RBC Financial Group, and Carolyn Reid, Brownfield Office Co-ordinator for the City of Hamilton.

Making Money with Contaminated Properties: Seizing the Opportunities features national and regional experts on financing options, incentives, insurance tools, economic and social spin-offs and potential legislative changes affecting liability relief.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bob Dylan to play Moncton May 20
Tickets for show at Moncton Coliseum go on sale Saturday

Times & Transcript Staff
Published Wednesday March 26th, 2008
Appeared on page A2

Moncton has scored another world-class concert. As mentioned in the Times & Transcript this week, legendary songwriter Bob Dylan, known for hits like "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", "Like A Rolling Stone", "Mr. Tambourine Man" and countless others, will perform at the Moncton Coliseum on Tuesday, May 20.

The show was confirmed yesterday by promoter Gillett Entertainment Group out of Montreal. The tour is part of a four-date Maritime tour that will see Dylan perform in Saint John on May 19, Moncton on May 20, Halifax on May 21 and St. John's on May 24.

Tickets to the Moncton show go on sale this Saturday, March 29, at 9 a.m.

In a career spanning five decades, Bob Dylan has released 44 albums and sold nearly 100 million worldwide.

His records have earned Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Awards, and he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1999, Dylan was included in TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century, and in 2004, he was ranked number two in Rolling Stone magazine's list of Greatest Artists of All Time, second only to The Beatles.

His most recent album, Modern Times, was released in 2006 and it received rave reviews. It was his first number one album in the U.S. since 1976.

Dylan last performed in Moncton five years ago.

n Tickets to Bob Dylan's show on Tuesday, May 20, at $49.50 and $69.50. They go on sale this Saturday and will be available at the Moncton Coliseum box office, by phone at 857-4100 or online at www.monctoncoliseum.com or www.geg.ca.

[kwajo]

Moncton, in its never-ending battle with Halifax for urban supremacy in the region...

I think this needs to be re-worded as "The Times & Transcript, in its never ending battle with every other city in the region for a sense of self-fulfilled superiority..." :P


Seriously though, while Moncton makes a strong case for a CFL franchise because of its location, and is a very good city overall, it is statements like these (usually from the T&T) that make people from outside the city feel a bit of resentment toward it. I'd probably feel a lot better about Moncton as a whole if I didn't feel like their media outlets were constantly trying to pick fights with other cities (first it was SJ, now it's Halifax).

I know its only perception, and it probably doesn't reflect the attitudes of the residents at all, but it still goes toward public image, and there are other ways of making your city seem attractive to business other than "battles" of words.

I'm not trying to start another Saint John-Moncton debate - I think they're a waste of time - I just wanted to complain about how silly some of our region's newspapers can be.

[Haliguy]

I think this needs to be re-worded as "The Times & Transcript, in its never ending battle with every other city in the region for a sense of self-fulfilled superiority..." :P


Seriously though, while Moncton makes a strong case for a CFL franchise because of its location, and is a very good city overall, it is statements like these (usually from the T&T) that make people from outside the city feel a bit of resentment toward it. I'd probably feel a lot better about Moncton as a whole if I didn't feel like their media outlets were constantly trying to pick fights with other cities (first it was SJ, now it's Halifax).

I know its only perception, and it probably doesn't reflect the attitudes of the residents at all, but it still goes toward public image, and there are other ways of making your city seem attractive to business other than "battles" of words.

I'm not trying to start another Saint John-Moncton debate - I think they're a waste of time - I just wanted to complain about how silly some of our region's newspapers can be.

Very True

[JasonL-Moncton]

I think this needs to be re-worded as "The Times & Transcript, in its never ending battle with every other city in the region for a sense of self-fulfilled superiority..." :P


Seriously though, while Moncton makes a strong case for a CFL franchise because of its location, and is a very good city overall, it is statements like these (usually from the T&T) that make people from outside the city feel a bit of resentment toward it. I'd probably feel a lot better about Moncton as a whole if I didn't feel like their media outlets were constantly trying to pick fights with other cities (first it was SJ, now it's Halifax).

I know its only perception, and it probably doesn't reflect the attitudes of the residents at all, but it still goes toward public image, and there are other ways of making your city seem attractive to business other than "battles" of words.

I'm not trying to start another Saint John-Moncton debate - I think they're a waste of time - I just wanted to complain about how silly some of our region's newspapers can be.

Very true...but hey...all our papers ARE owned by Irving, they are allowed to do whatever they want are'nt they? ;)

[mmmatt]

Whoever wrote that sentence is a fool, moncton cannot compete with Halifax for urban superiority, Halifax is like 4 times bigger haha...we can compete for mega-concerts and sporting events a little bit mainly because we are more centrally located and have a larger population within 2.5 hours than Halifax, but besides that they are way out of our league. Moncton and Saint John are easier to compare and have competition between because that are basically the same size, so I can understand that...but Halifax is way out there...I can understand a little competition, keeps people on their toes...but the T&T takes it too far sometimes.

[Wishblade]

Whoever wrote that sentence is a fool, moncton cannot compete with Halifax for urban superiority, Halifax is like 4 times bigger haha...we can compete for mega-concerts and sporting events a little bit mainly because we are more centrally located and have a larger population within 2.5 hours than Halifax, but besides that they are way out of our league. Moncton and Saint John are easier to compare and have competition between because that are basically the same size, so I can understand that...but Halifax is way out there...I can understand a little competition, keeps people on their toes...but the T&T takes it too far sometimes.

It kind of makes me wonder if the people who write some of these articles have ever even been to Halifax before.

[JasonL-Moncton]

It has nothing to do with who writes the articles, it the "editor" that edits them and 'twists' them to sensationalize them and then put them in the paper.

[ErickMontreal]

Moncton ranked top business city

Times & Transcript staff
Published Thursday March 27th, 2008
Appeared on page A11

Moncton has been named the best city in Atlantic Canada and New England in which to do business for the second year in a row.

The top ranking was confirmed yesterday by the KPMG Competitive Alternatives Study which is conducted every two years and looks at more than 100 cities worldwide and compares numerous factors from labour costs, taxation levels, real estate, energy and infrastructure.

After being named top city in 2006, it's pretty exciting to once again win top spot, said John Thompson, chief executive officer of Enterprise Greater Moncton, noting the city has done well despite changes to taxation regulations and the rise in Canadian dollar.

This third-party analysis validates Moncton as a "great place to live, work and do business," he said.

The ranking, he says, is an important promotional and marketing tool.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dieppe council awards several construction contracts

Published Thursday March 27th, 2008
Appeared on page A3

Dieppe City Council awarded several contracts during their regular meeting Tuesday night for maintenance of city streets and other infrastructure, with work to get underway soon.

Monarch Construction won the contract for curb, gutter and sidewalk repairs totalling $56,048. The city will develop a priority list of work to be done and work on that list until the budget is exhausted. The amount is similar to what was budgeted last year.

The street-patching contract, worth $239,842, was awarded to MacArthur's Paving and Construction. That amount is an increase of about $50,000 over last year's budget. Councillor-at-Large Jean Gaudet expressed disappointment that a very rough section of Amirault Street near the city's downtown core would only get patching and not resurfacing this year.

"We need to find a solution for that stretch of road that's more satisfactory than what we've come up with in the past," Gaudet said.

A contract for installing sewer lines, worth $128,469, was awarded to 512900 NB Inc.

Contracts for the supply of sand and crushed stone to meet the city's needs for the coming fiscal year were awarded to Modern Construction and Tri-Gil Paving and Construction.

[mylesmalley]

It has nothing to do with who writes the articles, it the "editor" that edits them and 'twists' them to sensationalize them and then put them in the paper.

The T&T takes sensational to a whole new level. It amazes me every day just how low they'll stoop to start a fight.

Just from the last few weeks, if you read the T&T and particularly the opinion page, you'd think:

1) Crime is rampant!
2) Crime isn't a problem!
3) People are rioting in the streets and only the minister of education thinks the FSL changes are right!
4) The Liberals are taxing us to death!
5) The Liberals have a hidden agenda!
6) The Conservatives could do no wrong!
7) The health minister is after french people!
8) Moncton is better than Halifax!
9) Taxes are too high!
10) Health care needs to be privatized!
11) We NEED TO CUT TAXES!!!
12) THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END!

Okay, I made the last one up. But that's it.

I'm not ashamed to admit i'm a liberal, but it doesn't take an impartial person to see there's a ridiculous anti-liberal bias in all of New Brunswick's papers and especially the T&T. You practically need a machete to cut through all the propaganda on some pages.

Don't get me started on hick-town we look when the headline on a paper with a circulation >40,000 is "Local Puppy Saved from Tree". The 'news' section contains a celebrity update! The paper is 80% ads, and 0% content, and I don't know what the hell to call the crap left over.

I hate the Times and Transcript. I hate it.

Which is why I read it for free every morning.


<End of Rant>


AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGHHHHHH!

[mmmatt]

the T&T is actually the largest paper in NB by circulation...over 128,000 I believe.

[kirjtc2]

I have a volunteer position with an organization called VoicePrint, which takes newspaper magazine articles and reads them out loud for the blind, which is then broadcast on digital cable and the internet. Twice a week I read a New Brunswick news show with articles from all the major papers.

I've made an editorial decision (sort of) to not read any T&T articles that come across as cheerleading for Moncton or bashing any other cities, to at least give the illusion of me being neutral. I don't have to do that for the Telegraph or Gleaner.

[ErickMontreal]

I've made an editorial decision (sort of) to not read any T&T articles that come across as cheerleading for Moncton or bashing any other cities, to at least give the illusion of me being neutral. I don't have to do that for the Telegraph or Gleaner.

Did you make the decision to not read Telegraph/Gleaner/T&T when they come across as biased toward Irving empire ? No offense but I dont take seriously the press in NB ( at least, those under Irving interests). I use their artciles due to the fact I do not have any other choice.

[mylesmalley]

Did you make the decision to not read Telegraph/Gleaner/T&T when they come across as biased toward Irving empire ? No offense but I dont take seriously the press in NB ( at least, those under Irving interests). I use their artciles due to the fact I do not have any other choice.

I'm a news junkie...
I regularly read:

http://www.cbc.ca/nb/
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
http://www.news919.com/

And I regularly listen to:

Fox radio
CBC radio
Radio Nederlands
BBC radio

The more perspectives you get, the easier it is to cut out the BS and to get down to what's actually happening.

Sadly, it seems the same naysayers who frequent the comments on the Times and Transcript page are migrating to the CBC comment boards as well.

[mylesmalley]

I have a volunteer position with an organization called VoicePrint, which takes newspaper magazine articles and reads them out loud for the blind, which is then broadcast on digital cable and the internet. Twice a week I read a New Brunswick news show with articles from all the major papers.

I've made an editorial decision (sort of) to not read any T&T articles that come across as cheerleading for Moncton or bashing any other cities, to at least give the illusion of me being neutral. I don't have to do that for the Telegraph or Gleaner.

Censoring the censors.... I love the irony in that.

[nwalbert]

I was curious about this so I googled it. The T&T actually has a circulation of232,223 which surprised me. Comparitiverly the Gleaner has 157,345 and the Telegrpah Journal is the largest in NB at 247,832.

The Chronical Herald has 621K and change.

[q12]

.

[q12]

Moncton's airport passeneger numbers dropped in 2007 from 558,513 in 2006 to 518,930. Where as all the major airports passenger numbers in this country continue to climb. Probably due to the loss of Canjet's scheduled service.

http://www.gmia.ca/english/corp/stats/trafficlarge.jpg

[ErickMontreal]

Metro leads the pack
Tri-community ranked best place to do business in Atlantic Canada, New England region for second consecutive time

By Eric Lewis
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Friday March 28th, 2008

Appeared on page C2

For the second consecutive time, Metro Moncton was ranked the number one place to do business in Atlantic Canada and the New England states.

In fact, the top four spots in KPMG's competitive alternatives study were taken up by Atlantic Canadian cities, and the top two spots were taken by New Brunswick cities -- Moncton at number one, with Fredericton trailing just behind it.

The study, which is done every two years, compares business competitiveness for more than 100 cities in 10 countries, breaking the cities down into regions.

Moncton, as if anyone had any doubt, leads the pack once again, ahead of such cities as Halifax, Boston, Bangor, Me., Manchester, N.H. and Providence, R.I. St. John's was ranked number seven.

"It's always great when you have that third-party verification of what we tell people all the time," says John Thompson, CEO of Enterprise Greater Moncton.

"If you look at it from the point of view of not only from us going out trying to attract companies in, that obviously helps us in our pitch. But its also great news for our existing companies who have invested their money and will be investing in more jobs in the future."

Thompson says while the study says Moncton, it is actually referring to Metro Moncton, so Riverview, Dieppe and Moncton all have reason to be proud.

Jason Hargraft, branch manager at Drake employment agency in Moncton, moved here with his young family from Calgary a few years ago. He was working at an employment agency in Calgary and he saw the numbers in which Atlantic Canadians were leaving their homes for the west in search of better paying jobs.

"My thinking was, 'OK, we've pulled so many people, it's got to have left some holes for employment,' which obviously it has done now," he says.

Hargraft knew he would enjoy the area and he decided to relocate to Moncton.

"Myself having a new family, Calgary just got so crazy, we sold at the right time, did alright with real estate, came out here and you buy a castle for the third the price you would out west," he says with a laugh.

His family chose the Moncton area to settle because of its proximity to national parks and other cities. It's centralized location in the Maritimes made it a natural choice, he says.

"We just fell in love with it, it's a great place," he says.

Hargraft says at Drake he is seeing a lot of demand for skilled workers in the Moncton area because so many people have left the region in search of better paying jobs elsewhere.

But he says things will likely turn around.

Business is obviously booming in Metro and Hargraft says as people migrate back to the area to work, the labour force will get stronger. Already he is seeing more people from Ontario-west responding to ads placed to entice them to move east.

"If more businesses set up here and more jobs become available that are better paying than they have been historically here, people are going to come back home. And new people, people like myself, are going to say, 'Hey, I can live cheaper here, it's a better quality of life, it's a great place to live.'"

The KPMG study measures several factors including the business environment in the region, labour availability and skills, economic conditions and markets, innovation, infrastructure, cost of living and quality of life.

Moncton topped the KPMG list in 2006 for the Atlantic and New England regions as well.

In the study, business costs are expressed as an index, with the United States being assigned the baseline index of 100.00. A cost index less than 100 indicates lower costs than the U.S. and anything higher indicates higher costs that in the U.S. Moncton's business cost is 94.9, representing a 5.1 per cent cost advantage relative to the United States, the biggest advantage in the Atlantic and New England regions.

Fredericton is slightly higher at 95.3, Charlottetown is at 95.8, Halifax is 96.6 and St. John's comes in at 99.5.

Enterprise Greater Moncton sponsors Moncton to be considered in the KPMG study, John Thompson says.

"This is a huge study, they compare apples to apples in the study and they look at the regional differences, so it's not just coming out number one when comparing us to Toronto, it's similar municipalities, similar sizes, that's what makes this validation so great," says Thompson.

Enterprise Greater Moncton will be using the facts from this study to convince companies that the Moncton area is a great place to do business in, he says. A series of videos the agency made recently promoting the area may actually have to be revamped a bit to include the latest study.

Jason Hargraft is hopeful of what could take place in the future.

"Hopefully businesses set up here, more people come, real estate goes up, job rates go up -- everything that happened in Calgary," he says. "I mean, it's never going to be that fast, but if it's anything like what we've seen elsewhere, especially out west, then right on, glad to be here."
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Forum targets vacant lots
Making money with contaminated properties

Published Wednesday March 26th, 2008
Appeared on page C2

Leading experts in transforming empty, contaminated commercial and industrial properties into viable developments will be in Moncton today to take part in the Brownfield Awareness Forum.

The forum, taking place at the Delta Beauséjour Hotel from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is a follow-up to regional information sessions held this winter in several cities on developing vacant and under-utilized urban properties known as brownfields into a profitable venture and asset to the neighbourhood and community in terms of aesthetics, recreational and business use and increased municipal tax revenue.

The economic development initiative is being hosted by the Downtown Moncton Centreville Inc.

Keynote speakers are James Evans, senior manager of Environmental Risk in the Corporate Environmental Affairs group at RBC Financial Group, and Carolyn Reid, Brownfield Office Co-ordinator for the City of Hamilton.

Making Money with Contaminated Properties: Seizing the Opportunities features national and regional experts on financing options, incentives, insurance tools, economic and social spin-offs and potential legislative changes affecting liability relief.

[michael_d40]

Moncton's airport passeneger numbers dropped in 2007 from 558,513 in 2006 to 518,930. Where as all the major airports passenger numbers in this country continue to climb. Probably due to the loss of Canjet's scheduled service.

http://www.gmia.ca/english/corp/stats/trafficlarge.jpg

Just a quick note that passenger numbers in saint john grew by about 50 thousand, and Moncton's declined by almost 40 thousand.
Coincidence? I dont think so. I just think the SJ airport has became more agreesive in retaining and growing their numbers, which ended up resulting as a loss for the Moncton airport.

[kwajo]

Just a quick note that passenger numbers in saint john grew by about 50 thousand, and Moncton's declined by almost 40 thousand.
Coincidence? I dont think so. I just think the SJ airport has became more agreesive in retaining and growing their numbers, which ended up resulting as a loss for the Moncton airport.
Agreed, I think it may have a lot to do with the new WestJet flights into Saint John in the past year. I know anecdotally, based on conversations with people I know, that a lot fewer Saint Johners are driving to Moncton to catch flights than in recent years.

Obviously there would be many other factors affecting flights, but I think this might be a major component.

[mylesmalley]

Moncton's airport passeneger numbers dropped in 2007 from 558,513 in 2006 to 518,930. Where as all the major airports passenger numbers in this country continue to climb. Probably due to the loss of Canjet's scheduled service.

http://www.gmia.ca/english/corp/stats/trafficlarge.jpg

First off, welcome to the forum, q12!

I don't think numbers at the GMIA dropping is all that significant. As was said, a Canjet flight was lost. I don't remember why. The airport's numbers have been growing at a very high rate for the past 15 years though. One year of decline isn't going to hurt much, and is probably just balancing things out.

As well, I believe another flight to Newark is starting up soon.

Good for Saint John. The more people coming to New Brunswick, the better.

[kwajo]

Good for Saint John. The more people coming to New Brunswick, the better.
Exactly! A loss of 40,000 for Moncton, and a gain of 50,000 for SJ still equals a net gain for the province, which can only be a good thing.

I have been guilty of regionalizing the province in the past, but I am making an active effort to change my attitudes, and think of New Brunswick as a whole, rather than a number of cities or regions vying for the top spot. We all need to work together, because the basic problems facing New Brunswickers (such as education troubles, population stagnation, negative stereotypes, etc.) are shared by all of us, and we need to conquer them as a united province, for the betterment of the lives of all of our children! </end provincial cheerleading rant> :P

[mmmatt]

Moncton's airport passeneger numbers dropped in 2007 from 558,513 in 2006 to 518,930. Where as all the major airports passenger numbers in this country continue to climb. Probably due to the loss of Canjet's scheduled service.

http://www.gmia.ca/english/corp/stats/trafficlarge.jpg

Thats exactly why, I actually e-mailed the airport authority asking them how the numbers went down after 15 years of incredible growth, they said the loss of that flight was a hard blow, but the good news is that the other flights they have continued to grow, so it could have been worse. They expect to be back where they were before, and higher within a couple of years. If we get that flight to Boston that number will easily be back up and higher within a year.

[mylesmalley]

Exactly! A loss of 40,000 for Moncton, and a gain of 50,000 for SJ still equals a net gain for the province, which can only be a good thing.

I have been guilty of regionalizing the province in the past, but I am making an active effort to change my attitudes, and think of New Brunswick as a whole, rather than a number of cities or regions vying for the top spot. We all need to work together, because the basic problems facing New Brunswickers (such as education troubles, population stagnation, negative stereotypes, etc.) are shared by all of us, and we need to conquer them as a united province, for the betterment of the lives of all of our children! </end provincial cheerleading rant> :P

Well said. Truth is, this is a small province. We need to stick together.

[ErickMontreal]

Major moves coming in Metro's retail sector

The sleuth
GOSSIP FROM N.B.’S FAVOURITE RUMOUR-MONGER
Published Saturday March 29th, 2008
Appeared on page D10

Last week, Sleuth poked around the musty halls of Highfield Square. This week, it's time to look across town at Champlain Place. The huge crater left when Future Shop left the mall and built a free-standing store off Plaza Boulevard has left Champlain with a very visible reminder that it isn't invincible.

But Sleuth noticed a beehive of activity in the former Future Shop location the past few weeks. Timing is everything in the gossip business, and Sleuth was sauntering down the hallway outside the spot last week when he happened to hear a conversation.

The mall staffer was telling another, that's where Urban Planet is setting up.

So now you know, one of Canada's hottest clothing retailers for the younger crowd is moving into the former Future Shop location, making it one of the largest clothing outlets in the entire Metro area.

Urban Planet recently opened its first New Brunswick store at the East Point Shopping Centre in Saint John. The company has two other stores in Atlantic Canada and 56 in total across the country. A late spring opening is rumoured.

***

Just across rutty Paul Street from the mall, one of Cadillac Fairview's busiest tenants is on the move. Danza Activewear has changed its name to Danza Dance and Swimwear and will soon be moving to a more central location. Danza is setting up shop at 460 Mountain Rd., at the corner of High Street in the bottom floor of the new brick condo. They will now be neighbours of the Escape Spa.

The move into swimwear will focus on children aged four and older, teens and women, and feature top brands such as Baltex, Billabong and SeaFolly. A tanning salon is also in the works. The move is scheduled for the first week of May.

Word is that Danza was forced to relocate after Cadillac Fairview informed them they could only sign a month-to-month lease due to upcoming "changes" in Dieppe that could affect their current location.

Sleuth knows that Paul Street is due for a major restoration this summer. Is the city thinking of realigning the street, forcing changes to the strip mall?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Metro wants new facility
CityThink finds 90 per cent support for new sports, entertainment complex

By Brent Mazerolle
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Saturday March 29th, 2008
Appeared on page A1

With public support at close to 90 per cent and a feasibility study in the works this year, momentum for a metro centre complex in downtown Moncton is building.

CityThink 2008, a survey commissioned by the Times & Transcript and conducted by Omnifacts Bristol Research, recently asked people what they thought of having a downtown facility, "that could be used for sporting events, performances, concerts and trade shows."

For the third year in a row, the answers to that question have been virtually identical, given the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 per cent.

Ian Fowler, the City of Moncton's general manager of recreation, parks, tourism, and culture, said yesterday, "it's certainly encouraging that this year's support is just as strong. And now that council has committed to a feasibility study, the project's gaining momentum."

Moncton City Council voted in December to set aside $50,000 in its 2008 budget for a feasibility study on a downtown metro centre.

The obvious site for such a facility would be somewhere in the vicinity of the former Beaver Lumber lands, where it could be combined with some sort of convention centre space, hotels or even a casino, should the winning proposal for a gaming facility actually see one built in the downtown of Moncton.

With the changing convention market leading some to question in recent months whether Moncton should build a standalone convention centre, a multi-purpose centre might feasibly do more to invigorate the city's downtown core. It would also provide the entertainment and diversions needed to lure conventioneers to the area in the first place, whether or not it had a convention centre built into it.

Should that downtown site not work for whatever reason, Daniel Allain, the general manager of Downtown Moncton Centre-Ville Inc., has pointed out there is still plenty of space for an arena in other parts of the downtown he wants to see developed, listing as possibilities the parking area around Highfield Square, the ballfields off Assomption, and even the corner of Main and King Streets.

"There is certainly enough space to accommodate it one way or another," he said.

Nevertheless, it would seem to be the best fit in the lands between Main and Assomption and Robinson and Mechanic, where it would be an easy walk to and from everything else the heart of downtown has to offer.

Ian Fowler has repeatedly made it clear a new downtown centre would complement the current Moncton Coliseum. As the city's premiere venue, the new centre would not replace the Coliseum in the sense of the Coliseum being demolished. Instead the Coliseum/Agrena would continue to offer the excellent trade show space which has been the growing heart of its business for several years now. With demand for sporting and entertainment facilities on the rise in Metro Moncton, Fowler is confident the Coliseum/Agrena would continue to be a desired and rented space for years to come.

Calling it the best trade show facility in Atlantic Canada, he said moving some of the other events out would give the Coliseum more leeway to do what it does best, without the worry of conflicting with concerts or game days.

Most Canadian cities, including nearby Saint John and Halifax, have arenas in their downtowns. Halifax is in fact looking at replacing or expanding its downtown metro centre, which surprisingly enough would likely be good news rather than bad news for the success of a Moncton facility.

In the concert industry for instance, 10,000 to 12,000 seat venues have essentially become either the minimum standard or a desirable niche size, depending on who you ask. If the Maritime region could boast two 10,000 to 12,000 seat venues, promoters of concert tours could stage two shows in the region, making them more willing to invest in travelling the extra distance here. While nothing is really far for the private jets that carry big name musicians from show to show, kilometres matter for tour buses and 18 wheelers.

Meanwhile, this week, the City of Edmonton has taken a step toward building a new home of the Edmonton Oilers in its downtown core, even though its Rexall Place is relatively central when you adjust for the scale of a city Edmonton's size.

Edmonton dreams of making its facility an iconic structure that would be famous in its own right, "the Yankee Stadium of hockey" as it was put in the Edmonton Sun this week.

The proposed $450 million price tag for the Edmonton facility, which would include several components, seems sure to make any Metro Moncton complex look like a bargain. A number floated around for a Moncton metro centre over the past year or so is about a tenth of that.

The loose numbers around Moncton should get firmed up soon. While the request for proposals for the feasibility study hasn't been issued yet, Fowler expects it will this spring.

"We want it started so we'll have something to table in the fall (in time for budget deliberations)," he said.

Quick facts

* Metro Monctonians who support having a new downtown metro centre to be used for sports, entertainment, concerts, trade shows and other events: 87 per cent

* Those opposed: 9 per cent

* Neither oppose or support: 3 per cent

* Don’t know: 1 per cent
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CFL dropped the ball on discussions: Mitton
Mayor Lorne Mitton says he'd like to see the CFL in Metro

By MARC HUDON
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Saturday March 29th, 2008
Appeared on page A8

OTTAWA - Discussions with CFL brass about the possibility of bringing Canadian-style football to Moncton ended in 2006, shortly after the Ottawa Renegades franchise went belly up, says the mayor of Moncton.

Lorne Mitton said former league commissioner Tom Wright -- an ardent proponent of East Coast expansion -- placed a call to Moncton City Hall "a few years ago" to talk about the league's future in Atlantic Canada.

"Discussions did take place about the possibility of a franchise in Halifax or Moncton," he said.

The league was then supposed to forward what Mitton calls a "terms of reference" document, outlining specific details about the city's financial and infrastructure responsibilities, he said, Mitton waited, but the document never arrived.

"I think the thought was, 'If we can't make it in Ottawa, we won't be able to make it in Atlantic Canada," he said. "There's been no activity in the past year or more on this file."

Earlier this week, new CFL commissioner Mark Cohon was at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa to award a conditional franchise to a group of heavyweight businessmen from the nation's capital.

This will be the third attempt by Ottawa fans and ownership at keeping a team financially afloat in the nation's capital -- with the club first suspending operations in 1996 and again 10 years later.

Cohon told the Times & Transcript that Moncton needs to build a 25,000 seat stadium if it hopes to land a franchise, adding no exhibition games are scheduled for the region.

A new $13-million 10,000-seat stadium at Université de Moncton is scheduled to be completed by spring 2009 for the 2010 World Junior Track and Field championships, which Cohon said is not large enough to support a professional football franchise.

"We thought we would still be in the mix for an exhibition game when we got this stadium built," said Mitton, adding he has not yet spoken with the new CFL commissioner about the league's future in the hub city.

Cohon took over the league's top post 11 months ago.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

St. Pat's Family Centre to get major facelift
Province announces $200,000 for community centre with more on the way

http://harvest.canadaeast.com/image.php?id=108943&size=400x0

By Aloma Jardine
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Saturday March 29th, 2008
Appeared on page A10

St. Pat's, we'll hardly know you.

The St. Patrick's Family Centre of Moncton got some very welcome news this week when the province announced the centre will receive up to $200,000 for much-needed repairs to the roof and exterior of the building.

But Health Minister Mike Murphy, MLA for Moncton North, says that is just the beginning.

"I think we can expect more and better news for the St. Patrick's Family Centre in the future," he says. "I've been working quite hard on another project for St. Pat's, for work to be done inside the building as well. I can't say exactly where I'm looking for this money, suffice it to say I'm certainly, with (Moncton East MLA) Chris Collins, leading the charge for further developmental funds for the inside of St. Pat's."

The $200,000 commitment came through the Regional Development Corporation.

Murphy says there is plenty of work to be done inside the centre, including repairs to the pool, fixing ventilation problems, and updating facilities and equipment.

"The opening of the YMCA certainly had an impact on St. Pat's. The new YMCA is a wonderful community development, but St. Pat's Family Centre has become an iconic community centre like the Boys and Girls Club," he says. "It offers services for after school projects and athletics and family oriented matters. It is not in the same league as the structure that is the YMCA, but I think it can complement the YMCA and the Boys and Girls club."

Murphy previously announced a $500,000 renovation project for the Boys and Girls Club.

Murphy says St. Pat's, which is located on Providence Street next to the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont Regional Hospital, isn't in competition with other centres, rather it serves the neighbourhood that surrounds it and a clientele that doesn't necessarily access programs at other facilities.

St. Pat's is in Murphy's riding and he has a long connection with the centre, which opened in 1964.

"I was there the day that it opened. My mother used to take exercise class there and I was on the swim team when I was very young," he says.

Murphy later learned to play basketball at the centre from Father Peter McKee, who he says must be smiling right about now, and now a new generation of Murphys is taking over.

Murphy's son Keegan, 15, has been a lifeguard at St. Pat's for the past year.

Murphy says fixing up St. Pat's not only fits into his work as MLA for Moncton North, but into his portfolio as minister of health.

"We have the highest obesity rates in the country. When I was a little boy, things were different. I think we saw a lot more unorganized sports and more activity. We have more organized sports now, but seemingly less activity," he says.

"We can't afford to lose a community centre like St. Pat's whether through obsoleteness of the equipment or deterioration of the building."

Murphy wouldn't say how much more money might be coming St. Pat's, though suggests it will be "substantial."

"I'm well on the way to pushing for a much more substantial investment from some other multiple sources including non-governmental sources," he says. "Suffice to say the inside of the building needs some considerable work, upgrading and perhaps some additions within the structure."

Very little in the way of repairs or upgrading has ever taken place at the 44-year-old centre.

[mmmatt]

I bet 20$ Urban Planet is moving into where American Eagle was...thats more a proper size for them...I highly doubt they would be able to fill that space, unless they break it up. Since the old AE spot is right beside the old FS spot it is feasible the slueth overheard someone talking about it there, but who knows I could be wrong.

Good news about St Pats, that building needs some work...that render looks pretty good too :D

As far as the CFL goes thats a fevered dream...it will never come to Moncton...Halifax MAYBE and thats a big maybe, but never Moncton.

[ErickMontreal]

I bet 20$ Urban Planet is moving into where American Eagle was...thats more a proper size for them...I highly doubt they would be able to fill that space, unless they break it up. Since the old AE spot is right beside the old FS spot it is feasible the slueth overheard someone talking about it there, but who knows I could be wrong.

Good news about St Pats, that building needs some work...that render looks pretty good too :D

As far as the CFL goes thats a fevered dream...it will never come to Moncton...Halifax MAYBE and thats a big maybe, but never Moncton.

I agreed all the way.

[ErickMontreal]

New texts have been posted on Urbanmoncton.ca

Check it out

[mmmatt]

New texts have been posted on Urbanmoncton.ca

Check it out

Good job! Is your page listed on Google? If not you should try to...this page deserves to be popular

[ErickMontreal]

Good job! Is your page listed on Google? If not you should try to...this page deserves to be popular

I did not think but it works right now... dont know why but really cool. :haha:

Merci Matt

[ErickMontreal]

Rue Alma Street

http://www.branchdesign.com/monctonpixels/P1170494_NationalBank.jpg

By Brian Branch :: http://monctonpixels.blogspot.com/2008/03/rue-alma-street.html

[mmmatt]

Speaking of Google I just did a random test (you know me and lists)

Here is the ammount of hits on Google for the following search paramiters:
The reason I added the quotations on Saint John is because without them 50% of the results are for St. Johns Nfld and St. John The Baptist, in fact even with them there are still quite a few linking to those things...really Moncton and Fredericton are the only two which are more accurate because there are no other cities named Moncton in the world...just a couple of old ships (named after the city).

Also for Halifax there is another city in England named Halifax...so just searching Halifax is innacurate...but I put it in there anyways.

Not that this means anything at all but anyways here goes:

Halifax - 38,600,000
Moncton - 9,430,000
Fredericton - 9,040,000
"Saint John" - 6,690,000
Halifax, Canada - 3,910,000
Moncton, New Brunswick - 3,520,000
Saint John, New Brunswick - 1,400,000
Halifax, Nova Scotia - 848,000
"Saint John", Canada - 626,000
Moncton, Canada - 359,000
Fredericton, New Brunswick - 560,000
Fredericton, Canada - 327,000

[ErickMontreal]

Concert coming

The announcement that concert-goers in Greater Moncton have been waiting for will be made on Monday. The promoters of the "2008 Magnetic Hill Music Festival" will release details of the next big concert on the hill at 1:30 p-m on Monday. For months there have been rumours that The Eagles will be one of the acts to perform at the Magnetic Hill Concert site on August second during the New Brunswick Day weekend.

[mmmatt]

Concert coming

The announcement that concert-goers in Greater Moncton have been waiting for will be made on Monday. The promoters of the "2008 Magnetic Hill Music Festival" will release details of the next big concert on the hill at 1:30 p-m on Monday. For months there have been rumours that The Eagles will be one of the acts to perform at the Magnetic Hill Concert site on August second during the New Brunswick Day weekend.

Cant wait!

[mylesmalley]

Concert coming

The announcement that concert-goers in Greater Moncton have been waiting for will be made on Monday. The promoters of the "2008 Magnetic Hill Music Festival" will release details of the next big concert on the hill at 1:30 p-m on Monday. For months there have been rumours that The Eagles will be one of the acts to perform at the Magnetic Hill Concert site on August second during the New Brunswick Day weekend.

Glad to see some non-country acts coming to town! The Eagles would be one hell of a show.

[mmmatt]

Glad to see some non-country acts coming to town! The Eagles would be one hell of a show.

effin right, and I bet there would be some sweet opening acts too...OLP would be awesome :)

[mylesmalley]

effin right, and I bet there would be some sweet opening acts too...OLP would be awesome :)

They were good at the Stones show, though I was there to see the Tragically Hip.