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Posted May 16, 2008, 3:58 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Grand Bay-Westfield :: NB
Posts: 3,088
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Airport traffic soaring
New summer flights start Sunday
Published Friday May 16th, 2008
C2
Times & Transcript Staff
More travellers than the entire population of Metro Moncton went through the The Greater Moncton International Airport in the first three months of 2008, the airport announced this week.
The 127,829 passengers who travelled through the area's airport represent an 8.5 per cent increase from the same period last year. February alone saw a 16.5 per cent increase.
The airport credited the increased capacity with their partner airlines highlighting twice daily flights to Toronto and a daily flight to New York, New Brunswick's only daily flight to the U.S.
The airport also announced their increased summer services.
Starting Sunday, WestJet will add a non-stop flight to Toronto with same-plane service to Edmonton. This is on top of the daily flight to Hamilton, Ont., with same-plane service to Calgary.
Air Canada Jazz will offer a first-class service to Montreal on a 75-seater regional jet and add a new daily flight to Toronto on an larger 75-seater plane, instead of the 50-seater.
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Record year forecast for Metro real estate
Real Estate Board dismisses prediction market will slow down, calls sales
Published Friday May 16th, 2008
through May 'out of this world'
A1
By John Pollack
Times & transcript Staff
In forecasts released yesterday, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) predicts the Metro Moncton housing market will cool off a bit in 2008, but the Greater Moncton Real Estate Board disagrees and says it's expecting another record year for sales.
In fact, Greater Moncton Real Estate Board President Ron Wood said "there is no evidence to justify negative comments about the Moncton market."
"I don't think that their predictions are accurate for the Greater Moncton Area based on the first four months of this year, because the market has rebounded tremendously for Moncton," he said.
CMHC cited bad weather and a slowing economy as their main reasons for the slight decline in the number of houses that will be purchased this year. They are calling for about 2,650 residential properties to be sold this year, down from 2007's record of 2,849.
"We're not sustainable at the pace we had last year," said Claude Gautreau, senior market analyst for CMHC, "so we'd likely see the market pull back slightly just to better balance for the size of the market demand for housing."
January and February were slow months for the Metro Moncton housing market, but March was average, and Wood said April made up for the shortcomings of the first two months of 2008. And things are looking up from here.
"We had a lot of front yards with eight to 10 feet of snow in January and February. I think it's pretty much understandable (sales will be down)," said Wood. "Sales in May have been just out of this world."
By the end of April 2007, 955 residential properties were sold in Metro Moncton for a combined value $121,629,982. By the end of April this year, 878 residential properties were sold valued at $121,366,007.
Although the number of sales are down by eight per cent, Wood said that is negligible because the overall value of all residential properties sold is less than a percentage point under last year at this time.
Gautreau pointed out that although CMHC is predicting a slower housing market this year, they feel the market is up in the long run.
"The marketplace is still very good, it's still a very strong market. It might be slowing down a little bit, but it's not slowing down to the point where it's that people need to be concerned about it," he said,
Both industry experts agree the value of houses will increase, although they disagree about how much. CMHC forecasts the average price of a house will rise four per cent from $140,000 last year to $147,000. But Wood thinks the increase will be in the 10 to 15 per cent range.
The reasons for the increase Gautreau and Wood gave were: scarcity of land for new development, the rising cost of labour to build new homes and homes built within the last few years now for sale are generally bigger than they used to be and therefore more expensive.
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True Value moves store to Dieppe
Published Friday May 16th, 2008
C2
Times & Transcript Staff
The building that houses True Value Hardware on Mountain Road is for sale and the hardware store will move to Dieppe.
Owner Marcel Girouard didn't want to disclose the new location in Dieppe, and couldn't provide a timeline for the move.
He said they would make the move once the Mountain Road location has sold. When the store does move to Dieppe, Girouard said it will be into another building he owns.
Girouard said the current store's location is on a valuable piece of land and cited high taxes as the main reason for the change of location.
For the 22,000-square-foot property and the 6,200-square-foot building and 10,000-square-foot compound on the property, Girouard is asking $549,000.
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Moncton hotel gets $6M makeover
Delta Beauséjour completes its renovation project
It's been a year in the works, but as of yesterday, the majority of Delta Beauséjour's $6-million renovation project is finished, leaving only a handful of upgrades for the summer.
Published Thursday May 15th, 2008
C2
By Nathan Rochford
Times & Transcript Staff
The Delta Beauséjour hotel on Main Street in Moncton has undergone renovations.
The total overhaul of the Moncton hotel, which bills itself as the largest in New Brunswick, saw renovations from the lobby to the top floor.
Renovations included remodelling every one of the 309 rooms in the hotel, including the addition of Jacuzzis in the suites, new dark-wood flooring and upgrades to the private club floor and lounge.
Even the lobby has seen its share of renovations with polished granite flooring put in as well as the addition of a coffee bar accessible to guests from the lobby.
"The hotel looks like it belongs in New York, or a large city in Europe," said public relations manager Pat DesBrisay.
"We're getting rave reviews," she said. "Especially about the lobby and bar."
The bar is part of the Trio restaurant, which just opened last week. And while the new restaurant has revamped the hotel's menu, the hotel's long-time coffee shop La Cafe has extended its take-out area and now offers the pasta-bar and stir-fry, formerly only available a few times a week, as a daily luxury.
The café also had new windows installed, allowing for more natural light inside.
There will be a few more minor upgrades in June, with additions to the fitness facility, including an extended exercise area and new equipment.
Other projects include a makeover of the east entrance to the hotel from the parking lot, which will involve the installation of automatic doors similar to the ones found at the main entrance.
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Tennis enjoying boom period in Moncton
Moncton Men's Challenger highlights summer at the Centennial Park club
Published Friday May 16th, 2008
D1
By NEIL HODGE
Times & Transcript Staff
The Centennial Park club has eight championship courts, the only two youth courts in Atlantic Canada, a renovated clubhouse and lighting that beats international standards. The facility will be in the spotlight when it hosts New Brunswick's first-ever professional tennis tournament this summer.
The $35,000 Moncton Men's Challenger, which takes place from July 12-20, is one of four stops on Canada's professional tennis tour. Other events will take place in Granby, Que., Toronto and Vancouver.
"You will see a very high level," said John Pearson, head of programs for Tennis Moncton. "A lot of these players are in the top 200 rankings in the world. It's not just the top Canadians. We're talking about elite international players. For us as the host club, it's a real honour.
"Riverview and Dieppe are coming together to support us in the pro challenger. This is a three-year tournament. It's something that we hope to grow. This year's challenger is already 98 per cent funded."
Tennis Canada past chairman Jack Graham, of Halifax, referred to the Moncton club as "the best outdoor tennis facilities in Atlantic Canada" during the news conference to announce this tournament.
Moncton will host a handful of other high-profile tennis events this summer. There's the Moncton Men's Challenger pre qualifier from June 21-23, the junior provincials from June 26-29 and both the Moncton Open and Masters over 35 on Aug. 16-17. The club has also made a bid to host the 2009 senior nationals.
"We're really excited about hosting the pre qualifier which is going to give 24 Maritimers a chance to earn one wildcard spot in the Moncton Men's Challenger," said Pearson. "For us to guarantee that a Maritimer will be in the pro tournament, it's a huge benefit for us."
Tennis Moncton opened for the season on May 1, but early bird registration will continue until May 31. The public is invited to attend a barbecue and learn more about what the club has to offer during a complimentary Family Day Rally which runs on May 24 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The club is open from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. every day. For more information, call 853-7763 or visit www.tennismoncton.ca.
Tennis is a cheap sport to get involved in and that's likely one reason for its growing numbers. The Moncton club currently has about 240 members, it expects to surpass 400 this summer and everyone who joins gets two free lessons.
"We have a lot of family memberships which are pretty economical for $160," said Pearson. "We're also getting an amazing amount of young couples that are joining for the first time.
"Moncton and Dieppe have been identified by Tennis Canada as hot spots for tennis in the country. They're going to show Moncton kids in a nation-wide DVD promoting a program they call Building Tennis Communities. It's exciting.
"We at Tennis Moncton really do believe in tennis communities. We don't just do the club. We have a lot of school visits. We go to playgrounds. We're involved with Camp Centennial and Cardio Tennis through the YMCA. When we go to a playground, we supply the equipment and instructors."
Tennis Moncton has players as young as age four and others who are into their seventies. The club is for all ages, but it has a particularly strong kids philosophy.
Pearson points out the idea behind the programs and camps isn't to get people to spend money and become committed. It's to teach the basics of the sport and try to get people excited.
"We really do believe the kids are the future," he said. "We're trying to make it fun. Here's the ball, try to hit it through the hoola hoop. Get mom and dad involved so that tennis can be something the whole family enjoys.
"We're big on trying to get kids excited about the sport. We have a tournament most Fridays where kids can have something to eat usually at no charge. If someone comes in with a decent pair of sneakers, we'll provide them with a racket and balls. We want people to try tennis."
Pearson also points out that Tennis Moncton is targeting another segment of the population.
"There's a lot of people between ages 25-40 who say things like 'I used to play tennis,'" he said. "You ask them what happened and they say `Oh, I just got away from it.' We're trying to reach out to that generation we lost."
Pearson is part of the 12-member Mayor's Working Committee at Tennis Moncton. The committee has a strong liason with the City of Moncton's recreation department.
"The city has put big money into this facility," he said. "What we're trying to give back is a program that's well known and I think based on some of the tournaments we're now hosting it's a good win-win. We're trying to grow the sport and get a good return on the investment.
"We're also hoping that local citizens realize what they have for a tennis facility in their own backyard. We're proud of where we're going. We have a very good team of staff and volunteers. We appreciate the city's efforts and their vision.''
Last edited by ErickMontreal; May 16, 2008 at 4:13 PM.
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