General Updates and News

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by Nifta

Where can our kids get close up to some fish in this province?

fisheries museum in Lunenburg has tanks with examples of local species.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

fisheries museum in Lunenburg has tanks with examples of local species.

Yeah, that's actually a very good museum. I always enjoy my visits there.

[Nifta]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

fisheries museum in Lunenburg has tanks with examples of local species.

I didn't know that. Is it it a good place to visit? Will have to check it out next time we're in the area. Thanks!

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by Nifta

I didn't know that. Is it it a good place to visit? Will have to check it out next time we're in the area. Thanks!

Its Worth a visit.

[IanWatson]

I guess I'm coming around to the idea of an aquarium.

Which got me thinking... a lot of the really cool institutions (and public spaces) in the world's major cities were originally founded or bequeathed by private individuals. As far as I can see, this civic philanthropy (outside of hospital wings and university buildings) just doesn't seem to happen anymore. Is it just not — to donate to a city's civic realm? Have medical charities stolen the lion's share of dollars? Has inflation in the cost of starting the next Smithsonian far outstripped the ability of wealthy individuals to pay for it? Have views about the role of government (i.e. "it's their job to pay for all of these things") changed?

[Empire]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I agree that it would be a great addition to Halifax. A lot of cities have zoos, well, an aquarium is just another version of a zoo for seafaring creatures, which would be a fitting focus for a coastal city such as Halifax.

I see a dual purpose as both a tourist attraction and an educational/research facility for locals. As a bonus, an aquarium would allow our children to appreciate sea life for more than what we see on our dinnerplate, and thus encourages an enlightened view of our oceans and the associated environmental struggles within (you can't put a price on that).

Last time I was in Monterey, I had to go to to the aquarium 2 days in a row as I couldn't get enough of it. If we could have anything close to this in Halifax I think it would be an attraction that people would come for miles to see.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/

Exactly! The reason there is no aquarium in Halifax is the same reason we lack many amenities that you would expect for a city our size....COMPLACENCY! Halifax in many ways represents the entire region so you would expect more amenities than a city of similar size near larger population centres.

An aquarium seems to be an obvious piece of infrastructure for a maritime city........... but not in Halifax. Who would go? Who would pay for it? Where could we put it? ............COMPLACENCY! It is unlikely that we will have a normal aquarium in the near future so the most likely scenario is to construct a state of the art aquarium / research facility at BIO. To start, it should be similar to the Lunenburg fish tank with native species etc.

Expansion could be phased in after that. Funding would come largely from the Feds as they would see the logic in having an aquatic research, training, learning (school trips) and tourist centre in a costal city that represents a such vast region.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Empire

Exactly! The reason there is no aquarium in Halifax is the same reason we lack many amenities that you would expect for a city our size....COMPLACENCY! Halifax in many ways represents the entire region so you would expect more amenities than a city of similar size near larger population centres.

Not to be contrary, but you don't find Halifax actually has way MORE amenities than you would expect for a city of its size? Certainly few cities of 400,000 have anything like the AGNS, for example, and none in Canada.

Let alone attractions like the Citadel, Pier 21, Discovery Centre, Maritime Museum, Keith Brewery, Seaport Market, and so on. Not to say there isn't a "good-enough" mentality noticeable here and there, but I wouldn't call out the city as under-performing in its weight class--if anything, the opposite.

[ILoveHalifax]

S t a d i u m

[scooby074]

Yes... the one thing Halifax desperately needs to waste money on is an aquarium to house their own version of Shamu.

Aquariums, particularly ones that will draw tourists are very expensive endeavors, both to build and maintain.

There are so many things that will benefit the greater good of both the city and the province far above an aquarium.

Things like some form of commuter rail and a stadium for two examples.

That said, perhaps a small aquarium featuring local species could be tacked onto an existing facility, like maybe the Museum of the Atlantic or even better, stick it in that underused tourist building by "The Wave" sculpture. Maybe then the bathrooms will be clean and not look filthy and smell like a hobo's armpit. They are thoroughly disgusting and an awful image for tourists who use them.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Not to be contrary, but you don't find Halifax actually has way MORE amenities than you would expect for a city of its size? Certainly few cities of 400,000 have anything like the AGNS, for example, and none in Canada.

Let alone attractions like the Citadel, Pier 21, Discovery Centre, Maritime Museum, Keith Brewery, Seaport Market, and so on. Not to say there isn't a "good-enough" mentality noticeable here and there, but I wouldn't call out the city as under-performing in its weight class--if anything, the opposite.

I wouldn't say Halifax is underperforming on amenities, but would say it is seriously underperforming on other key urban matters: downtown investment, proper planning (ie dealing with sprawl + promoting density), public transit investment, supporting local arts.

[Dmajackson]

Nicholas Fudge Architect has a rendering up for a small redevelopment on Queen Street. For some reason it won't let me show it on this site;

http://nicholasfudge.com/projects/q-u-e-e-n-s-t-r-e-e-t-l-o-f-t-s-intern-architect-halifax/

Google Streetview

[counterfactual]

Does anyone have any information about the former HMV space on Spring Garden Road?

Any rumours about possible interest? Anything in the ANS?

As I've said before, it seems crazy to me that prime street-level space on the busiest street east of Montreal cannot find a tenant for that space.

So why is this space still empty? What is the problem? Is management *that* incompetent? No proper contacts?

Why is it that Dartmouth Crossing is able to land major retail tenants left and right, but Spring Garden Road is empty now for almost a year.

It would be the perfect moment to land an important/major "anchor" tenant for that space. Some major retail player, that will literally bring people to Spring Garden / downtown area, to shop.

I'm thinking Apple, H&M, Urban Outfitters. Ideally, something that is not located elsewhere in a mall. Now that Microsoft.

And yet, the space is still vacant. Is it time that the Downtown Business Commission step in to help out? Someone needs to make some calls (maybe the Mayor?) to bring in a big client.

It's ridiculous to have this space empty for Christmas.

[xanaxanax]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

Does anyone have any information about the former HMV space on Spring Garden Road?

Any rumours about possible interest? Anything in the ANS?

As I've said before, it seems crazy to me that prime street-level space on the busiest street east of Montreal cannot find a tenant for that space.

So why is this space still empty? What is the problem? Is management *that* incompetent? No proper contacts?

Why is it that Dartmouth Crossing is able to land major retail tenants left and right, but Spring Garden Road is empty now for almost a year.

It would be the perfect moment to land an important/major "anchor" tenant for that space. Some major retail player, that will literally bring people to Spring Garden / downtown area, to shop.

I'm thinking Apple, H&M, Urban Outfitters. Ideally, something that is not located elsewhere in a mall. Now that Microsoft.

And yet, the space is still vacant. Is it time that the Downtown Business Commission step in to help out? Someone needs to make some calls (maybe the Mayor?) to bring in a big client.

It's ridiculous to have this space empty for Christmas.

For starters the old HMV space on Spring Garden needs to be modified into two levels and its the most paramount thing needed for that spot to be successful for a retailer and no one is going to move into that spot till that happens. The current layout is a huge waste of potential space and they are asking too much to rent it out. Coras was going to go into the space but they backed out, they had a coras sign up for months but now its gone

[IanWatson]

Maybe they have redevelopment plans and don't want to get tied into a lease?

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by xanaxanax

For starters the old HMV space on Spring Garden needs to be modified into two levels and its the most paramount thing needed for that spot to be successful for a retailer and no one is going to move into that spot till that happens. The current layout is a huge waste of potential space and they are asking too much to rent it out. Coras was going to go into the space but they backed out, they had a coras sign up for months but now its gone

Geez, thank G-d Cora's didn't move in there.

What a waste of prime real estate. Seriously.

I agree on the two-part thing. I feel like the landlords are to blame here. They're probably being super cheap and super lazy (ie not actually doing stuff with the place to make it nicer to attract new high end tenants) while, on the other hand, probably charging a mint.

Idiocy that they have not fixed up the space over the course of this year.

[HalifaxRetales]

SGR has the 6th highest streetfront lease rates in Canada
1) Bloor Street West, Toronto: $315/sq ft
2) Robson Street, Vancouver: $200/sq ft
2) (tie) Ste Catherine Street, Montreal: $200/sq ft
4) Alberni Street, Vancouver: $150/sq ft
5) Granville Street, Vancouver: $125/sq ft
6) Spring Garden Road, Halifax: $65/sq ft
6) (tie) 17th Avenue S.W., Calgary: $65/sq ft
8) 4th St. S.W., Calgary: $60/sq ft
9) Greene Avenue, Montreal: $60/sq ft
10) Rue de la Montagne, Montreal: $60/sq ft

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by HalifaxRetales

SGR has the 6th highest streetfront lease rates in Canada
1) Bloor Street West, Toronto: $315/sq ft
2) Robson Street, Vancouver: $200/sq ft
2) (tie) Ste Catherine Street, Montreal: $200/sq ft
4) Alberni Street, Vancouver: $150/sq ft
5) Granville Street, Vancouver: $125/sq ft
6) Spring Garden Road, Halifax: $65/sq ft
6) (tie) 17th Avenue S.W., Calgary: $65/sq ft
8) 4th St. S.W., Calgary: $60/sq ft
9) Greene Avenue, Montreal: $60/sq ft
10) Rue de la Montagne, Montreal: $60/sq ft

That is — ludicrous. No wonder they can't get anyone in there. Greedy idiotic landlords. As usual, they're happier with an empty storefront, than spending some money to fix up the place or lowering rent to land a big, long term tenant.

[Hali87]

Is it gonna be like this forever?




I was blown away when I saw this place yesterday. Guess where?



Admittedly it would look better if they discouraged sandwich boards, but maybe they haven't had a chance to work on signage yet.



A bit of Keith Hall was exposed from under the scaffolding yesterday, I couldn't get a picture but it was looking pretty good.

[haligonia]

^Is that Barrington Place?

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by haligonia

^Is that Barrington Place?

Wow, you're good!