The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

NBCC Moncton to get $20M upgrade
Published Monday December 8th, 2008
First $10M for renovation project included in $660M N.B. capital budget tomorrow
A1
By Mary Moszynski
Times & Transcript Staff

FREDERICTON - The provincial government will use its capital budget tomorrow to announce nearly $10 million towards a major renovation for Moncton's community college campus.

The funding is the first half of a $20-million project that will be completed within two years, the Times & Transcript has learned.

"This is a major upgrade and addition for new space," said a government source. "There will be approximately 400 new spaces that will be opened up for the community college."

Last month some students were forced to change classrooms because of a leaky roof.

Good news for NBCC Moncton. I presume that the money is going for more than just roof repairs.

The Moncton NBCC campus is old and needs significant renovations. The differences in the state of repair between the NBCC Moncton and CCNB Dieppe are quite startling. Hopefully this discrepancy will be at least partly addressed by this cash infusion.

Matt, you're a student there aren't you. What do you think?

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

NBCC Moncton to get $20M upgrade
Published Monday December 8th, 2008
First $10M for renovation project included in $660M N.B. capital budget tomorrow
A1
By Mary Moszynski
Times & Transcript Staff

FREDERICTON - The provincial government will use its capital budget tomorrow to announce nearly $10 million towards a major renovation for Moncton's community college campus.

The funding is the first half of a $20-million project that will be completed within two years, the Times & Transcript has learned.

"This is a major upgrade and addition for new space," said a government source. "There will be approximately 400 new spaces that will be opened up for the community college."

Last month some students were forced to change classrooms because of a leaky roof.

Thats awesome! The school is in pretty bad shape at the moment haha. And the "students" mentioned is my class .

I would say the roof is #1 priority...to me I think they should just tear the whole place down and start fresh (the building is 50+ years old and showing it). But This is much better than nothing. The roof has been in shambles for quite a few years according to my teachers, but maybe my class being forced to move was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back

[sdm]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Brick would be nice, but it would be in keeping with that end of Gordon/Cameron to use vinyl. More importantly, the more density down there, the better.

Would you not get more density by building up, instead of having cheap garden style appartments which will probably be built of wood?

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by sdm

Would you not get more density by building up, instead of having cheap garden style appartments which will probably be built of wood?

We're talking about Moncton here, and a three story vinyl/wood siding apartment building is better than three widely spaced run down houses.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by stu_pendousmat2

We're talking about Moncton here, and a three story vinyl/wood siding apartment building is better than three widely spaced run down houses.

Understand, but would be so much better to have highrise (albeit 10 stories is far from a highrise) that are concrete construction instead of wood.

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by sdm

Understand, but would be so much better to have highrise (albeit 10 stories is far from a highrise) that are concrete construction instead of wood.

Yes, of course.

Unfortunately there's no incentive for builders to go that high. Land is ridiculously cheap compared to just about every other CMA in the country. Construction costs rise considerably when you switch from wood based to concrete and steel construction which is required for greater height. As a result, most new apartment buildings in the city are in the 4-5 story range.

For now at least...

[Sony500]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Would those be one of the two buildings planned for the area? one was supposed to be 5 floors with 64 units, and another next door was 32 units with 4 floors. I forget the name of the street they were going on, but it was very near to the Moncton Hospital.

There is an apartment building going up on Reade St. between Arden and Garfield. Is that one of them that you are talking about?

[MonctonRad]

There is a rumour that NuBody's is planning to open a new outlet in the Trinity Drive area next year. If so, this will be their fourth location in Metro.

- Downtown Main St. (old Dooley's location)
- Uptown Dieppe (Dieppe Blvd.)
- Main & Vaughn Harvey (ladies only, not yet open)
- Trinity Drive/Mapleton

[gehrhardt]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

There is a rumour that NuBody's is planning to open a new outlet in the Trinity Drive area next year. If so, this will be their fourth location in Metro.

I was a member at the one in Dieppe a couple of years ago. Even back then the trainers there were talking about the new location that was going in the Trinity area.

[MonctonRad]

Part of Mapleton Road closed
Published Monday December 8th, 2008

Instability of retaining wall shuts down lane on brand new street

By James Foster
Times & Transcript Staff

Moncton officials are grappling this morning with a potentially significant problem that has developed in a new stretch of highway that just recently opened to the public.


truck drives in a single lane where the sidewalk and the exterior northbound lane of Mapleton Road, between Trinity Drive and Frampton Lane are closed.

The closure is a result of some slope instability in the retaining wall that runs parallel to this part of Mapleton Road. The lane and sidewalk will remain closed until the retaining wall is fixed. Only about one month after first opening the newly rebuilt section of Mapleton Road, the outside northbound lane of the four-lane street, between Trinity Drive and Frampton Lane, has been closed, as well as the sidewalk that runs beside it.

"The closure is a result of some instability in the retaining wall that runs parallel to this part of Mapleton Road," City of Moncton spokesman Paul Thomson says. A fix is likely to take "at least" three weeks, the city says.

In the meantime, the outside lane on the northbound stretch, located just north of where Wheeler Boulevard exits onto Mapleton and onto Trinity Drive, is blocked off by traffic cones and the sidewalk is closed to pedestrians as well. There is no sidewalk on the other side of Mapleton Road.

That stretch of highway receives heavy usage, especially during morning and evening rush hours and during this time of year as Christmas shoppers make their way to the popular shopping area.

While the road opened only last month after being completely rebuilt and expanded to four lanes, the retaining wall accommodates several new retail outlets that are in the process of being built. It is not known how the instability of the wall might affect that busy construction area. No one was working there yesterday.

Engineers working at the new fashion retail outlet notified the city of some undue settling of the slope that separates Mapleton Road from the under-construction retail centre. That prompted the city to close one lane of the road, plus the sidewalk, Thomson says. The retaining wall and slope will be observed for a period of time to gauge the extent of the problem.

"The city is erring on the side of caution," Thomson said last night.

"It's unfortunate but public safety is paramount."

It is "premature" to start discussing who will pay for repairs, if any are necessary, he said.

The problem is not with the road, but with the sloped land and the wall that retains it. However, any undue settling could badly affect the road and sidewalk above it.

Motorists proceeding north of Mapleton Road, or turning northward onto Mapleton from Wheeler Boulevard or Trinity Drive, are advised to watch out for the closed lane. Pedestrians are urged to exercise caution if they have to walk there and drivers should watch out for people on foot who might be walking along the side of the road.

The new section of Mapleton is but the first phase of the busy street's transformation from a bumpy two-lane road into a major entry point into the city. By this time next year, the plan is to have the road twinned all the way northward to the Trans-Canada Highway (Hwy. 2) and to double the size of the Mapleton Road overpass over Wheeler Boulevard to six lanes from three.

That work is expected to get under way in May.

[C_Boy]

I'm not sure who had mentioned that the Sony store was leaving Champlain mall but I doubt they will be moving in at Mapleton now either... Sony is cutting 16000 jobs and pulling out of businesses...

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by C_Boy

I'm not sure who had mentioned that the Sony store was leaving Champlain mall but I doubt they will be moving in at Mapleton now either... Sony is cutting 16000 jobs and pulling out of businesses...

The number of job losses I've heard is only 8000 and these will only be from the electronics manufacturing division. This job loss is less than 5% of the global Sony workforce. I imagine there will be no impact on the Canadian retail sales division.

Personally, I'd rather keep the Sony Store at Champlain. It's one of the few reasons to go to that mall. Most of the stores there are high end women's clothiers. Not much to attract a middle aged male with no fashion sense.

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The number of job losses I've heard is only 8000 and these will only be from the electronics manufacturing division. This job loss is less than 5% of the global Sony workforce. I imagine there will be no impact on the Canadian retail sales division.

Personally, I'd rather keep the Sony Store at Champlain. It's one of the few reasons to go to that mall. Most of the stores there are high end women's clothiers. Not much to attract a middle aged male with no fashion sense.

There are reasons to go to Champlain Place?

[gehrhardt]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

There are reasons to go to Champlain Place?

Well, to keep the wife happy.

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

There are reasons to go to Champlain Place?

Sony Store, Wal Mart, West 49, Boathouse, HMV, EB Games...there's some cool stuff.

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by stu_pendousmat2

Sony Store, Wal Mart, West 49, Boathouse, HMV, EB Games...there's some cool stuff.

I suppose...

[stephan.richard]

Originally Posted by stu_pendousmat2

Sony Store, Wal Mart, West 49, Boathouse, HMV, EB Games...there's some cool stuff.

I must agree with you STU.... Also i wish that they would fill in th vacant stores with good stuff.... Also I wish tha Aeropostale, Hollister and Abrecrombie and Fitch could move to Moncton.

[mylesmalley]

New jail part of $660M budget
Published Wednesday December 10th, 2008

N.B. capital budget unveiled, but finance minister won't confirm new detention centre will be built in Moncton
A1
By Mary Moszynski
Times & Transcript Staff

FREDERICTON - A new jail will be built in southeastern New Brunswick as part of the Liberal government's plan to boost infrastructure spending.

Finance Minister Victor Boudreau announced the project during his capital budget released yesterday.

However, Boudreau refused to say whether the jail will be built in Moncton.

"We are going to be building a new detention centre, It's close to $35 million estimated over the next two ynext two years," he said. "It's a very positive project; I believe it's one that's been on the books for a few years now."

The former Conservative government committed to replacing the Moncton Detention Centre, doubling the capacity to 200 spaces, and set aside $500,000 for planning and design work.

However, the Liberals didn't follow through with the project. Last month Public Safety Minister John Foran told the Times & Transcript his department has completed a review of correctional facilities in the province and Moncton remains a priority.

The Moncton jail is overcrowded and in 2005 the jury in a coroner's inquest into the death of a prisoner at the detention centre called for a new jail as its main recommendation.

The Liberals refused to divulge any details yesterday, even though government officials released specifics on many of the other major projects prior to the actual release of the budget.

As well, the Liberals announced a new jail will also be built in Dalhousie.

In total, Boudreau announced roughly $661 million in capital spending for 2009-2010, an increase of roughly $175 million from this year.

Valerie Roy, CEO of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce, said the Liberal government's approach of boosting infrastructure spending will help local businesses weather economic uncertainty. "The spending creates jobs right away and also there are a lot of spin-offs," she said.

Many of the projects outlined in the budget were previously announced or leaked to media over the past couple of days, including $20 million over the next two years for NBCC Moncton.

A total of $160 million will be spent on college and university buildings over the next two years, including $30 million next year for the province's four publicly-funded universities.

As well, Boudreau announced roughly $49.5 million will be spent next year on schools from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

Details of the projects will be announced when individual departments outline their spending during estimates in the coming weeks. However, Boudreau did say that government will soon issue a request for 'expressions of interest' from the private sector for the construction of new schools in Rexton and Moncton north.

Boudreau also announced $6.7 million for the Dr. Georges L. Dumont Regional Hospital to begin a major expansion.

As well, money will be given to the hospital to purchase new linear accelerators that will help address wait times for radiation therapy.

[mmmatt]

^ Great! A jail doesnt really belong downtown anyways.

Excellent news about the hospital too , an expansion of bed capacity is greatly needed at that hospital.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by stu_pendousmat2

^ Great! A jail doesnt really belong downtown anyways.

Excellent news about the hospital too , an expansion of bed capacity is greatly needed at that hospital.

I'm sure that the expansion at the Dumont has nothing to do with extra beds, although both hospitals could stand to have extra capacity.

The money I believe is for extra space in radiation oncology and medical imaging for new linear accelerators and a PET/CT scanner.

re: the jail, I'm certainly glad to see it vacate downtown. This will certainly free up all the land behind Assumption Place for a major development of some kind.

I don't really care if the new jail is built in Moncton or not but, since all the court facilities in southeastern NB are to be consolidated in the new justice complex, it would make sense to locate the new jail somewhere in the metro area. Perhaps it could go in one of the industrial parks, like it is down in Halifax.