[St. John's] The Official Project Thread

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by jeddy1989

Can you imagine if these big box developments were made malls instead! they would be HUGE malls, and only take up a portion of the space they do now. we would have like 6 or 7 malls then in the metro area.. i think we could use a new larger modern mall, it'd be cool

I agree with you there. These big box developments are ridiculous in my opinion, simply because they take up huge amouts of land for no more purpose than to sit as paved parking lots that rarely see anything close to capacity use except around the Christmas season. And even at that time of year the weather is usually sloppy (especially on the Avalon with the indecisive rain vs. snow), so wouldn't you, as a shopper, prefer to park in one spot and be able to visit several stores without going back outside? Instead we keep seeing "power centres" popping up... or rather out across the fringes of the city. They are just an inconvenience with the driving from one store on one side of the asphalt field to the next building about a half kilometre away.

Has a big box "mall" ever been done? Like a Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Staples, etc... all connected with internal and/or external access? I'm curious as to how reasonable that concept would be.

[PoscStudent]

The concept of a big box mall is not realistic because the reason these developments exist is because these major companies don't want to rent the space.

[PoscStudent]

Someone mentioned to me that they thought Sobey's may go out near Empire Theatres on Torbay Road but looking at the plan it doesn't seem like any of the buildings are large enough.

[jeddy1989]

City of St. John's Considers Farmers Market

The City of St. John's is looking at resurrecting an old idea now that Save Easy at Churchill Square is no more. The closure raised concerns that area students and seniors would have to travel some distance to pick up groceries. In a letter to the Mayor, Loblaws says it has no specific plans for the former site, but is actively involved in discussions with interested parties. Some councillors think the site would make a great location for the Farmers Market. Councillor Tom Hann says it's something to consider if the supermarket giant cannot find another tenant. Hann says it could be a unique opportunity. He wants the Mayor to write another letter to Loblaws to gauge their interest in entering some kind of an agreement with the city and the market participants.


Gerry Colbert remembers a former plan for a Farmers Market in Churchill Park that never got off the ground. He says a complete study was done that included architectural drawings, but unfortunately the council of the time didn't find the money. Colbert admits that the original plan may not be big enough now, but he says it may be a starting point.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&ID=20481&latest=1

What do you guys think of this idea? in the audio it seems to suggest that Lablaws would have a part in it still (probably being owners of the property)

[leo minor]

Originally Posted by jeddy1989

City of St. John's Considers Farmers Market



http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&ID=20481&latest=1

What do you guys think of this idea? in the audio it seems to suggest that Lablaws would have a part in it still (probably being owners of the property)

I f***ing love the idea. but that's just me.

[PoscStudent]

I was randomly searching for things in Google and noticed that Bed Bath and Beyond have had ads looking for managers for their St. John's store.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

I was randomly searching for things in Google and noticed that Bed Bath and Beyond have had ads looking for managers for their St. John's store.

I heard that the store is going where Sportchek used to be in the Village Mall, that's not confirmed though. Not sure if this has been posted previously but an Ontario-based restaurant chain called Smoke's Poutinerie will be opening a store here sometime this spring/summer. They've been expanding and have already opened a store in Halifax back in the fall. Here is a link to their website, http://smokespoutinerie.com/Default.aspx

[AllBlack]

I saw this on Ryan Snodden's blog today. Pretty cool 360 panoramic from the top of the Atlantic Place parking garage following yesterday's storm.

I've never been to the top level of the garage. Wouldn't want to have to find my way down in a blizzard.

http://360.io/HEFDL4

[crackiedog]

Here is a small piece on the St. John's convention center expansion. I don't know if there is anything new in here but it was in an interesting new website to promote St. John's tourism called "Destination St. John's"

http://destinationstjohns.com/


St. John’s Convention Centre Expansion

Opening in the fall of 2016, the expanded St. John’s Convention Centre will make our city – already a great host city – an even better one. This $45 million expansion will double the capacity of the Convention Centre to 45, 000 square feet of divisible meeting space, which means even more people can come here to share in the magic of our one-of-a-kind location.

Crackiedog

[PoscStudent]

Here's the picture of the convention centre from destination St. John's.

[Architype]

^ That looks completely different than before. It's a much more colourful and interesting design, and more fitting for a convention centre.
But how come there is such a radical departure in design, and is this still going to fit with the existing building?
Anyway -

[jeddy1989]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

Here's the picture of the convention centre from destination St. John's.

This looks great! I really like it, that whole area in the west end will look soooo much more modern and urban with all this stuff

[PoscStudent]

It would make the convention centre stand out much more, I think it's important that it's a memorable building.

[jeddy1989]

I aslo believe that this concentration of modern buildings in the west end of DT will really enhance the contrast of the heritage area, making both more impressive

(also what plans do they have for the area where the gas station is!? where does the skywalk go? lol)

[PoscStudent]

It looks like the skywalk is still there on the right side of the picture.

[Marty_Mcfly]

I'd still like to know the answer to that question. I think a nice office building would fit in real nicely there

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

I'd still like to know the answer to that question. I think a nice office building would fit in real nicely there

I have a funny feeling we may be seeing a future proposal coming down at the current Ultramar site on New Gower. Who knows, we may even see a pedway linking the Delta to this proposal (this is complete speculation of course.....).

[crackiedog]

This article states that construction on the convention center expansion is to start in April.

News › Latest NewsApril, 2012, Construction Start for St. John’s Convention Centre Expansion
November 1, 2011



Artist rendering of the renovated St. John’s Convention Centre.Shovels are expected to go into the ground in April, 2012, for an expansion of the convention centre in St. John’s, Nfld., that will double the facility’s size.

Plans call for the facility’s meeting space to grow to 37,000 sq. ft. from its current 18,000 sq. ft.

Additionally, the plan is to build the extension first, so the existing property can be used until 2015.

In 2015, the new space will open and the current space will close, with two becoming one in the first quarter of 2016 and the full space being functional by summer, 2016.

Total cost of the project is $43.29-million.

Source http://www.meetingscanada.com/content/files/2011/11/StJohnsConventionCentre.jpg

[crackiedog]

This article seems to back-up the April start:


Tenants displaced by St. John's convention centre growth
CBC – Fri, 6 Jan, 2012

A group of tenants is being evicted in downtown St. John's to make way for the expansion of the St. John's Convention Centre.

The tenants said the building they live in is among a number of structures that are being expropriated for the project.

Nora McCurdy is one of the residents who have been told she will have to leave the Waldegrave Street building.

She says she lives on a fixed income and doesn't know where she'll end up.

“Damn thing is sold, we have no choice,” she told CBC News.

Tenants in the building received a letter from a lawyer notifying them of the expropriation. McCurdy said they were told they’ll have to leave by April 10.

St. John's Mayor O'Keefe said he understands why people are upset and he's promising city staff will meet every tenant to see if they're eligible for affordable housing.

"I'm upset by it. I'm upset by the fact that the eviction notices were issued without our knowledge and even without our infmoration," said O'Keefe.

"Had we known, we would have been able to say to the owners: 'Hang on a second now, we have a plan here, we're going to work with these people and we're going to see what we can do to ensure that they are suitably housed' but that didn't happen."

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/tenants-displaced-st-johns-convention-centre-growth-211531233.html

[Architype]

Three to four years to build the Convention Centre expansion is actually a very long time period for construction, it seems like it should take about 2 years. The Vancouver Centre took less than two years and it was a much larger and more complex design.