[Halifax] Nova Centre | 65-58-58 m | 16-15-14 fl | Completed

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by David1gray

So anyone want to make a guess at when this will start construction?

They say early 2012 with opening in late 2015 (maybe early 2016).

This is seriously good news for the city, the province and indeed the region. A project like this does not compete with any development elsewhere in NS or in NB or PEI. It stands on it's own. It will only enhance the reputation of the entire region.

[worldlyhaligonian]

This is great for the maritimes as a whole!

The fact that the anti- groups said they can't find a shred of evidence that this will have economic benefit has to be the most rediclous statement ever. What about the 51 million that wasn't directly out of the NS taxpayers pocket, lol.

Plus the jobs, etc. They are just making everything up at this point.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

I think he means the Heritage Advisory Committee (Heritage Committee Advisory People)

Halifax Coalition Against Poverty.

Anyway, again I wonder if the 2012 construction date includes excavation. My guess would be that it does not, and that work will begin late this year if there are tenants for the office building. Can't wait to see cranes up on this site -- they will be very prominent. This is a project that will make the city feel a little more "grown up". Those empty lots are a real eyesore.

I suggest going to Citadel Hill for ideal viewing. In fact, I think the view will be improved from some angles as the refinery will no longer be visible.

[halifaxboyns]

Someone asked earlier if Nova Centre was going to be attached to the downtown pedway system. I had a quick look on Rank's website (which alas is still under construction) and it shows there is a proposed pedway from the Prince George to the Nova Centre site.

I rather enjoyed the brief interview with Victor Sipryk (did I spell that right)? He put it best (for the bar owners): It will be a few years of hell, but really worth it in the end because they will get access to a new parking facility (since it's likely the spots will be open to the public at night) and being so close to the centre - during lunch breaks and after conference meetings are over they will benefit.

[someone123]

Yeah, it seems like this development will be an amazing neighbour for the bars and restaurants. It's also great to have a convention centre where attendees can walk out the door and find good places to eat.

[CorbeauNoir]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

Practically everything these people would spend money on are either already somewhat in development or completely outlandish/rediculous (high speed rail from yarmouth to sydney??? how is that even justifiable as a legit expenditure compared to a convention centre... it would literally cost billions and the usage would be less that rail in most medium sized cities)

Ech, I take it back, maybe I don't want to know what these guys are proposing. Even Calgary-Edmonton can't really find justification in getting a high-speed rail link off the ground.

Personally after hearing that the Art Gallery has been contemplating a new location I'd have pegged that spot for a replacement building. The current gallery has its charm but its display rooms are really erratically arranged and have very little natural flow, even after having visited it 5-6 times over the last year I would still get a little bit lost trying to find my way in there. Temporary exhibition space in particular is tiny and really suffocates the potential of displaying the gallery's collection (I was really surprised to find out that the AGNS has a larger collection than the VAG, yet it feels far smaller and exhibits are a lot more static). Plus with the Neptune right next door it would really strengthen Argyle's entertainment-district role. It could even be a mixed-use facility with office or hotel space similar to the Glenbow in Calgary.

But like I said earlier, I'm not really too picky about what fills that space. I'm just really glad to hear that SOMEthing is going to finally be built over that pit.

[beyeas]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

CBC News at 6 just ran a piece by hatchet-job specialist Preston Mulligan that - guess what? - featured the OLD rendering.

They are either totally clueless, or are purposely trying to put this in the worst possible light.

Meanwhile the piece itself was the typical bunch of negativity and naysayers, from Kevin "Johnny One-Note" Lacey, standing in front of the hole on Argyle St saying that this was a sad day for Halifax, to everybody's favorite, convention expert Bev Miller, saying none of the numbers are right, to the Khyber parasites, with all of their moronic ideas for how to better spend these dollars on themselves.

The amount of negativity being spread around today on what should be a very happy day is simply extraordinary.

At this point, and given that only they and the coast are still using the old rendering, there really can be no conclusion but that it is an editorial decision to paint it in a bad light. They could be forgiven for a period for using the old one, but at this point there is no other explanation.

The negativity surrounding this decision absolutely astounded me when I read the comments on the CH site. The one that pissed me off the most was the theme that seemed to be picked up about how we never should have asked for this because we won't get the convention centre and the ship building contract.

That is EXACTLY what Mackay was talking about... that sort of defeatist attitude is just so pervasive across the entire political spectrum of NS provincial politics. Other regions of the country have no hesitation, and rightly so, standing up and trying at all points to maximize investment in their provinces. Hell... Quebec and Alberta threaten to separate when they don't get their way, and yet somehow we are wrong if we dare to have the audacity to make multiple parallel investment requests. If we don't, some other province will be more than happy to step into the vacuum and take them money.

NS desperately needs to give itself a shake and take itself out of the backwater attitude of "we are never going to succeed so why try".

[someone123]

Originally Posted by beyeas

The one that pissed me off the most was the theme that seemed to be picked up about how we never should have asked for this because we won't get the convention centre and the ship building contract.

This is the kind of "theory" I mentioned in the stadium thread. It's totally made up and it makes no sense. It's particularly sad since that kind of thinking causes people (like the South Shore and CB Save the View members) to oppose projects because they think this is all some zero-sum game and that a "no" in Halifax means "yes" to Tar Ponds II or a new bridge from Boston to Yarmouth or something. It's crazy.

In the past I have mentioned the negativity as a serious drawback of living in NS. I still think it's the worst thing about Halifax.

[Waye Mason]

Originally Posted by beyeas

In my experience the main convention halls (which would be the only space in Nova Centre big enough to hold 4000 people I would think) do not make good performance halls.

I can certainly see that it would be a space to temporarily seat 4000 people for a large scale speaking engagement using a speaking dais, but it would not be well suited either acoustically or in terms of viewing experience for performances. Usually these centres have one hall with inclined seating that holds maybe 1000 people (in addition to the smaller spaces), but the main hall is really just designed for vendor displays etc. Any room that is designed to have a transport truck roll into it and set up large scale commercial vendor displays is unlikely to be well suited to watching the symphony!!!

This is well put.

If we eventually build a new concert hall (which I think is 20-25 years away) we need to have our sights set on something like the Winspear in Edmonton:



That said, I am told the Cohn can be expanded to 1500, and right now the demand for a larger hall that the current 1000 seats is no more than 10 times a year, max. There are cheaper ways to accommodate that, and other things are more important, like the Legacy project, a 400 seat theatre for dance and drama that eight companies are collaborating on. Other projects include improving acoustics and production at the Forum MPC, production at Alderney Event plaza, and ongoing renovations to extend the life of the HMC.

I am convinced the Legacy could fit in the OLD WTCC site. Cut out the floor below the current ballroom and you have a 3 story, very large space to put a stage, 400 seats, and rehearsal rooms and black boxes.

Imagine, a theatre with shows 80% of the year, with a new entrance right on Argyle, just down the street from the new WTCC, that would be exciting indeed.

[fenwick16]

Tim Bousquet at The Coast continues to attack the convention centre economics. He also continues to use the old rendering of the Nova Centre (not much of a surprise).

(source: http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/arch...73bb8338ffc6084&sort=desc#readerComments )

Rachel Brighton gets the convention centre entirely wrong
Chronicle-Herald columnist misses the big costs to government.

Posted by Tim Bousquet on Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 1:36 PM

Rachel Brighton, publisher of Coastlands: The Maritimes Policy Review and columnist in the Chronicle-Herald, is a knowledgable and insightful commentator on Nova Scotia's often-foolish attempts at economic development. So it's with great disappointment to read her commentary in todays Chronicle-Herald, "Halifax convention centre looks like a good bet."

But, now that it looks like the convention centre is going to get built, Brighton's commentary gives me the excuse to review the economics and costs behind the thing, and to plainly lay out the various claims and numbers, so that down the road we can give the lie to the false promises of the last few years.

[q12]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

Tim Bousquet at The Coast continues to attack the convention centre economics. He also continues to use the old rendering of the Nova Centre (not much of a surprise).

(source: http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/arch...73bb8338ffc6084&sort=desc#readerComments )

[Empire]

What surprises me about Tim Bousquet is that he is always wrong. One would think that occasionally he would slip up and write a positive article by mistake and actually be right for a change. His left wing views couldn't be more regressive and he and his cronies feel that utopia resides in the Bousquet scriptures. What a sad group of misfits.

[someone123]

One particularly bad aspect of Tim Bousquet's writing is that he will sometimes present opinion or uncertainties as fact. For example, in the article above he states that the convention centre will lose money. In reality he is just making a prediction which may or may not turn out to be correct.

At this point I am tired of his writing and I mostly do not read or comment on his articles.

[Jstaleness]

Nice to see comments that are against his views too. A few of which I see are from the gents here in this forum.

[halifaxboyns]

Tim is very much like Rick Bell out here in Calgary. He rants and raves about everything - the city can never do any right. I can't stand reporters like him...but they do occassionally hit the nail on the head. I'm not shocked though that Tim hasn't.

I rarely read his stuff...it makes a better kitty litter liner, frankly.

[someone123]

It is too bad. The Coast was never reliably great from what I remember but sometimes there were interesting articles about the city. Tim Bousquet seems too bombastic for that though; every article I have seen is arrogant, accusatory, and difficult to even get through. He frequently condemns new plans and passes off his own personal conspiracy theories as fact.

Casual readers can only take so much of that before it's all filtered out as noise. For those actually involved in projects like the convention centre much of it must be personally insulting. Bousquet's message does resonate with some but I think he's preaching to the small choir of disaffected Coast commenters and missing the wider audience.

I am pretty sure he reads this forum***. Hopefully he will tone it down a bit in the future and write some more positive articles.

***Bousquet has insultingly written about people on the internet who like generic highrises and skylines -- another "drive-by" style hit on yet another group that has far more nuanced opinions than he lets on. There are people here who know way more about planning than writers at The Coast do. I would also guess that SSP members have had a far more positive impact on Halifax development than Bousquet's rants have.

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by someone123

Hopefully he will tone it down a bit in the future and write some more positive articles.

You are holding out hope in the face of a hopeless cause...

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by someone123

***Bousquet has insultingly written about people on the internet who like generic highrises and skylines -- another "drive-by" style hit on yet another group that has far more nuanced opinions than he lets on. There are people here who know way more about planning than writers at The Coast do. I would also guess that SSP members have had a far more positive impact on Halifax development than Bousquet's rants have.

Well said... I think that the issue here is dismissal of every other opinion as wrong and all of the lies / misinformation, regardless of the tone of the writing.

Everybody is negative from time to time, but most of the writing about development in The Coast is downright rediculous. Some of it could be considered slander.

In a city that is often defined by the images of Purdy's Wharf and the clocktower I find it humourous that these opponents use such underhanded tactics in order to substantiate hollow perspectives. We need old and new, condo development, heritage restoration, and affordable housing. To think one of these things necessarily takes away from the others is just plain wrong... like most of "information" found in The Coast.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by someone123

I am pretty sure he reads this forum***. Hopefully he will tone it down a bit in the future and write some more positive articles.

***Bousquet has insultingly written about people on the internet who like generic highrises and skylines --

This would be another one of Tim Bousquet's false assumptions since most of us like extraordinary highrises and extraordinary skylines.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

This would be another one of Tim Bousquet's false assumptions since most of us like extraordinary highrises and extraordinary skylines.

... not to be self-congratulatory or anything... LOL