[Halifax] Skye Halifax (1565 Granville) | 66 m | 2 x 21 fl | U/C

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by Empire

Nova Centre is in a viewplane. Go to the area opposite the town clock and see if you can see th harbour.

It's not in a designated view plane.

[someone123]

You can see the impact of one view plane between the angled Nova Centre facade and Maritime Centre.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by JET

Interesting. It is visible from that spot , but if you move google Street to the middle of the parade square.

Yeah that's true. But the Ramparts rules aren't from the centre of Parade Square. They're from specific viewpoints within Parade Square. You can see them on this map: https://cdn.halifax.ca/sites/default/fil...MAP7-HalifaxCitadelRampartSightLines.pdf

Essentially the rule is that if you draw a triangle from human viewing height (~6 feet) at one of the viewpoints (represented by single digits 1 - 12) to two of the points on the ramparts (e.g. 108 and 109) and extend it out over the city, you're not allowed to have a building break the plane of that triangle.

The Cogswell Tower building encroaches on the 8/108/109 triangle.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

It's not in a designated view plane.

Correct. You can see the designated viewplanes on this map: https://cdn.halifax.ca/sites/default/fil...anning/MAP6-HalifaxCitadelViewPlanes.pdf

And keep in mind that they have a 3D component to them. For example, the MetroPark garage is in the area indicated as Viewplane 6 but it's short enough that it doesn't encroach into the view of George's Island.

[Empire]

The viewplanes were intended to protect the view of the harbour from the citadel. The view of the harbour from the citadel has been greatly reduced in the past ten years with the viewplane legislation intact.

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by Empire

The viewplanes were intended to protect the view of the harbour from the citadel. The view of the harbour from the citadel has been greatly reduced in the past ten years with the viewplane legislation intact.

It's not a panoramic view plan. The designated viewplanes have been respected.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Empire

The viewplanes were intended to protect the view of the harbour from the citadel. The view of the harbour from the citadel has been greatly reduced in the past ten years with the viewplane legislation intact.

1) not intended to protect views of the whole harbour, and 2) not views from *everywhere on the citadel. Since viewplane legislation was introduced, I don't think there have been any encroachments.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by Empire

The viewplanes were intended to protect the view of the harbour from the citadel. The view of the harbour from the citadel has been greatly reduced in the past ten years with the viewplane legislation intact.

It's only very specific views of certain harbour features (e.g. George's Island) from very specific locations on Citadel Hill. You can see them on the link I posted previously. The main viewling locations are:

• Viewing deck on the other side of the road from the main entrance
• On the rampart right under the flagpole
• Two points along the road south of the fort

As far as I'm aware this has not changed at all ever since the viewplanes were introduced.

If you look around on Google Maps you can see a number of buildings that have been designed to just skirt the viewplanes. E.g. The Convention Centre, the Trinity Site (where the Moxy Hotel is), the Maritime Centre, etc.

Skye's south tower also is designed to avoid the viewplane that's over top of the Metro Park.

Someday when the weather is nice maybe I'll go take some photos to illustrate the different viewplanes.

[IanWatson]

Excavation appears to be getting serious on this site. They were drilling tiebacks last week, so hopefully that means blasting will happen soon.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Wow! After 30-plus years, can this actually be happening?!

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Wow! After 30-plus years, can this actually be happening?!

I may not believe it even when I do see it.

[KnoxfordGuy]

Doesn't look like they are just pushing dirt around anymore from Jonathan Lampier on Instagram.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Wow! After 30-plus years, can this actually be happening?!

I feel like the old Texpark wasn't demolished until a few years after Y2K... and wouldn't have been sold to United Gulf until after demo. So, not QUITE 30 years. Yet.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

I feel like the old Texpark wasn't demolished until a few years after Y2K... and wouldn't have been sold to United Gulf until after demo. So, not QUITE 30 years. Yet.

Okay… for some reason I was thinking it was gone in the nineties. Didn’t bother to fact check myself though.

Regardless, it feels like it’s been fifty years!

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

I may not believe it even when I do see it.

I may not even believe it when it is fully built! LOL

[someone123]

If it does actually happen the impact on the feel of downtown, the consistency and extent of the higher density built-up area is going to be significant. None of the streets around there are perfect but Hollis will be pretty good for about 10 blocks. Sackville has an interesting "hilly canyon" feel, but will still have some gaps.

On the whole there aren't that many parking lots and underused sites left between Cogswell, South, the waterfront, and South Park St. Then again, what is left in a lot of cases is stubborn sites, often institutionally managed, that have sat around for decades.

[Musicman Halifax]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Okay… for some reason I was thinking it was gone in the nineties. Didn’t bother to fact check myself though.

Regardless, it feels like it’s been fifty years!

I’ve been in Halifax 25 years and texpark was still there when I moved here. A friend of mine helped launch a car off the top floor for a movie shoot.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Musicman Halifax

I’ve been in Halifax 25 years and texpark was still there when I moved here. A friend of mine helped launch a car off the top floor for a movie shoot.

That must have been a sight to see in person!

According to wikipedia it was demolished in 2004, so only 22 years ago. I could say that Texpark was looking groddy and run down for 10 years before it was torn down, and that’s when I started wanting the site redeveloped. So actually a correct statement on a personal level.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by someone123

On the whole there aren't that many parking lots and underused sites left between Cogswell, South, the waterfront, and South Park St. Then again, what is left in a lot of cases is stubborn sites, often institutionally managed, that have sat around for decades.

My hope is that this cycle keeps going and some of those get done. It seems as though there is a bit of a tipping point at present where the less lots there are left... the more likely they are to come up for development.

Downtown south needs something... the site next to the Vic seems ripe.

[ArchAficionado]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

My hope is that this cycle keeps going and some of those get done. It seems as though there is a bit of a tipping point at present where the less lots there are left... the more likely they are to come up for development.

Downtown south needs something... the site next to the Vic seems ripe.

That'll be a tricky one - it'll need quite a lucrative development, as the soil remediation will be expensive. Used to be fuel storage sitting on that site for the old power station that NS Power converted to offices ~15 years ago.