[Moncton] Centre Avenir Centre | 26.65m |~6 Fl | Completed

[mylesmalley]

Was it really spelled Hifi? It was supposed to be pronounced Hi-FEE if I remember correctly.

[David_99]

There's a picture on Vintage Moncton and it's spelled "Highfie". Considering his expression, I think the "High" spelling is appropriate...

[Walk then Run]

Originally Posted by Hogie75

Bruce the Moose was Champlain Place, Hifi The Bear Was Highfield Square? If my memory serves me correct.

You're absolutely right...I stand corrected. Thank God these mall creatures were only around for a decade or so because Highfie does look like he's suffering from more than a little Christmas cheer. Maybe the spirit of Christmas Future told Highfie about the demise of his home

[L'homard]

Fondest memory of Highfield Square (other than HiFi or hifie or highfi the oursus) was John Price (RiP) and Graham Walker, the two top MPF narcs in town, visiting our school to warn us of all the pot dealers at the mall.
Their efforts were counter-productive for some.

[habs33]

Mayor just posted that the demo of the Highfield Square starts today at 2pm

https://twitter.com/GeorgeLeBlanc/status/504627415415787521

[habs33]

Here's Mayor LeBlanc taking the first hit at Highfield Square

https://vine.co/v/MlDzKjiAYwb

[Monctoncore]

Seeing the video and the pictures has made me a really happy person today!

[MonctonRad]

from today's T&T:

Moncton applies for events centre funding
Wednesday, September 03, 2014
Times and Transcript
By: Brent Mazerolle

Moncton city council has taken another step in its incremental work to build a multipurpose events centre in downtown.

Last night, the council voted unanimously to make an official application to the Municipal Capital Borrowing Board for authority to borrow roughly $38 million for the centre.

The move still doesn’t commit the city to actually borrowing the money, but establishing that it has the authority to do so gives the two proponents who were selected to answer the city’s request for proposals a key piece of information they need.

Before the proponents, one consortium led by Ellis-Don and the other led by Bird Construction, can get financing from short-term lenders to fund the construction, they must be able to show the city’s part of the financing is in place.

In turn, the city’s going to the capital borrowing board hinged on a formal promise from the Province of New Brunswick that it would invest a little more than $24 million in the project. City manager Jacques Dubé pointed to that commitment as one of three promising steps towards bringing the centre to fruition.

The first was the city’s purchase of the land, the second was the provincial investment, and the third was the Alward government’s campaign promise to enact a hotel levy, similar to what most Nor th American jurisdictions already have.

He, Mayor George LeBlanc and Coun.-at-large Pierre Boudreau all said in various ways that the hotel levy was a key part of the plan to help finance the operations of such a centre.

personal note - so, with the city intending to borrow $38M, and with the provincial commitment of a little over $24M, that means that there is now over $62M potentially committed to this project. This only leaves the feds to get on board. Of course, with Harper's typical rigidity on issues like this, a federal commitment will be the toughest nut to crack………

I almost forgot - DMCI has pledged $2.5M over 10 years to the events centre, bringing the total to about $65M. In addition, the Progressive Conservatives have promised a hotel levy tax of 3% as part of their election platform. The Liberals also are committed to something similar, with monies flowing back to the communities of origin for tourism related projects (which could include the events centre). All in all, things are definitely starting to come together.

[MonctonRad]

further to the above:

New Moncton downtown centre may get indirect federal funding

City looks to new Building Canada Fund to pay for infrastructure so city funds can go to complex
CBC News Posted: Sep 03, 2014 11:08 AM AT
Last Updated: Sep 03, 2014 11:08 AM AT

The City of Moncton has found an "ingenious" way to help pay for a new downtown entertainment centre with indirect federal funding, says the city manager.

​Traditionally, the city has paid 100 per cent for infrastructure items, such as storm sewers, said Jacques Dubé.

But under the new Building Canada Fund, the city can apply for federal and provincial funding for those projects and put the money it would have spent on infrastructure toward the downtown centre instead, he said.

"Before we would have applied it to storm sewers and buses. Now the federal government and the provincial government are stepping up. We can take the money we would normally have … borrowed for those purposes and apply it to the downtown centre," said Dubé.

"So it's not changing anything in terms of the net borrowing of the city, it's simply a way to fund the project in a rather ingenious way."

Dubé says the city is currently in an open period for the request for proposals for the project at the former Highfield Square location, which will include a concert venue, meeting space and an NHL-size rink.

But the city needs to know by Nov. 7 whether it's getting any money from the federal government, otherwise, the project could be delayed, he said.

"We're hoping that we're going to get federal funding confirmation of the remaining funding that's available under the new Building Canada Fund and perhaps other monies through other federal agencies that would allow the federal government to actually contribute $24 million towards capital projects that are non downtown centre-related in the city."

The provincial government announced last month it would contribute up to $23.85 million toward construction of the centre, provided the federal government would also be on board.

The city hopes to award the construction contract by the end of 2015, with construction expected to begin by early 2016, officials have said.

[Mattyyy]

There is notice of hearing in the T & T This morning stating that the city of Moncton is to meet with the Municipal Capital Borrowing Board on 14th October to apply for $72,600,000 for a downtown events center. Does this mean the city plans to proceed without federal funds and hope to receive them later? Either way, good sign.

[MonctonRad]

That's pretty much exactly what's happening, yes.

Specifically, the feds are not likely to contribute anything to sports related portions of the events centre, but they will contribute to other infrastructure needs in the city thus reducing the need for the city to borrow to pay for that. The city thus can use money saved on other projects and redirect it towards borrowing for the events centre.

It's all a shell game really........

[L'homard]

MonctonRad has got it spot on.
It's also important to note that the city will often (maybe usually?) seek permission to borrow the full sum of a project, even though they know they are getting funding from Source X and/or Source Y.
And finally, this application is to seek authorization to borrow that amount, it doesn't necessarily follow that they will borrow that amount.

[Nashe]

At the very least, that should indicate to everyone how dead-serious city leadership is to get the new center. Not that that should have been much in doubt after buying the land for 6m.

[riverviewer]

Demo action at Highfield this morning

[mmmatt]

^^ Cool pic...

My first job was in that old Sobeys. Had a nice view of downtown from the cashes. Was very much past its prime when the new store was built though!

[Walk then Run]

Possible updated pic of HS demo?...curious to see how that's moving

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by Walk then Run

Possible updated pic of HS demo?...curious to see how that's moving

I'll take a gander down there this afternoon. I haven't really been there yet myself so also curious as what it looks like.

[kev_427]

Have they decided which of the four proposals is going to be used? If not, any idea when they will?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by kev_427

Have they decided which of the four proposals is going to be used? If not, any idea when they will?

Probably "none of the above". They were all conceptual drawings by a group of architects and they were produced in order to galvanize public interest in the project (which they did), and to kickstart the process.

The current $105M (or so) project is only for the arena and for some public space and some convention type facilities. What will be included will be entirely up to the remaining two bidding consortiums. The city is allowing bonus points to the consortiums if they increase the seating beyond the base 7,500 number. As such, I rather expect that the final project will be heavy on the seating (8,000-9,000), and light on frills and amenities.

That's not to say that additional developers won't get on board and add in extras to the project such as a hotel, condo towers or retail/restaurant space. I'm sure they will, and there is a lot of land there to play with. I just don't think it will be built all at once, and the final redevelopment of the Highfield Square property might take something like 12-15 years to accomplish.

[riverviewer]

Backhoe in the Sobeys