[Moncton] Centre Avenir Centre | 26.65m |~6 Fl | Completed - Page 34

Taeolas · #**661** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 11:38 AM**

Considering Gallant's popularity is plummeting, you'd think he'd try to be gaining some goodwill where he can, regardless of the federal aspects. Sure there is a bit of opposition to the centre, but overall it feels like it does have popular support. And it'll be shovels in the ground jobs almost right away, not to mention the logjam of other development projects that will be freed up once its greenlit.

Mattyyy · #**662** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 11:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Five days until the self imposed "deadline" and Robert Goguen and Victor Boudreau are still playing he said/she said.

In particular, it appears as if Boudreau is trying to score political points against Goguen (in the face of the upcoming federal election), and is again engaged in unnecessary stalling tactics.

The ball is firmly in the provinces court right now, but it appears as if Dominic still wants Brian to play footsie for a while longer. It's too late for this. We need a decision now............

Sounds to me as though this project is officially "F****d.... Watching this whole fiasco is draining and discouraging - unfortunate as at one point it was quite exciting.

nwalbert · #**663** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 1:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taeolas

Considering Gallant's popularity is plummeting, you'd think he'd try to be gaining some goodwill where he can, regardless of the federal aspects. Sure there is a bit of opposition to the centre, but overall it feels like it does have popular support. And it'll be shovels in the ground jobs almost right away, not to mention the logjam of other development projects that will be freed up once its greenlit.

My impression is that there is marginal popular support within the Moncton region. Although it is relatively unknown to the rest of the province you can bet it will be widely unpopular throughout the rest of NB. The province has just made numerous cuts and tax hikes that impacted almost everyone. Seeing such a large sum committed to a want could potentially permanently sink Mr Gallants political career even this early into his mandate.

Quite frankly there is also no pressure on the province as the Feds are not in. It is quite clear MR Goguen's words carry little to no weight on the matter. I can see the province kicking in, but can never see the Feds kicking in. Sets a precedent across the country that they don't want to set for a riding that in the grand scheme of things they don't care about.

MonctonRad · #**664** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 1:24 PM**

What Moncton is looking for is part of "Brian's billion" (the infrastructure money promised by the Liberals in the last provincial election). The $24M asked for is less than 2.5% of this total, which does not seem like an unreasonable request.

You can't spend the whole billion paving over Bas Caraquet can you????

Scarface · #**665** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 2:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taeolas

Considering Gallant's popularity is plummeting, you'd think he'd try to be gaining some goodwill where he can, regardless of the federal aspects. Sure there is a bit of opposition to the centre, but overall it feels like it does have popular support. And it'll be shovels in the ground jobs almost right away, not to mention the logjam of other development projects that will be freed up once its greenlit.

I do believe from the comments I've read the opposition is only there because of the way they tried to market the Convention center. We are being told that it will be great for this city, and businesses in Moncton except we have seen larger cities try this, and it has not worked.

Mattyyy · #**666** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 2:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarface

I do believe from the comments I've read the opposition is only there because of the way they tried to market the Convention center. We are being told that it will be great for this city, and businesses in Moncton except we have seen larger cities try this, and it has not worked.

Is this center not being modeled off of the new center in London, Ontario which was a success? Don't answer that - it's rhetorical. And how do you determine success? It was a success in London and helped move their downtown forward - exactly what we're looking to do in Moncton. What about the MTS center in Winnipeg? They built this in the early 2000s after the Jets left. Today it is the most successful venue in North America. Do a lot of stadiums lose money? Of course - but they are provided for the greater good of the public. You're generalizing your statements to make it sound like every stadium out there is unsuccessful - which is far from the truth. How else can the city approach it? The fact is the naysayers are never going to listen to whatever proof you provide them - it will always be "not my tax dollars". In reality, we will never know the outcome until this thing gets built and we get some years behind us.

MonctonRad · #**667** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 3:32 PM**

Sports infrastructure does work as a business generator.

You need to look no further than the Moncton Stadium.

If someone had come forward (cold) with a plan 7-8 years ago for a $24M 10,000 seat sports stadium for U de M, looking for government funding for this initiative, they would have been laughed out of town. The university doesn't even have a football team for cripes sake!!

The plan wasn't cold however. It was purpose built for the IAAF World Championships. Since then the stadium has also hosted three CFL games, the Canadian Track & Field Championships (twice) and both the FIFA U20 Women's World Championships and the Actual FIFA Women's World Championships. The facility has more than paid for itself in terms of taxes recovered and in promotional terms. Moncton is up there playing with the big boys and lots of people who would otherwise never heard of our city are now aware of our existence. The current FIFA event is expected to generate something like $40M in economic activity for the city and the region.

The Events Centre is also being proposed for a purpose. This purpose is to re-establish Moncton as a regional hub for arena concerts and events such as the Memorial Cup, world curling championships, national and/or world figure skating championships, Cirque d'Soleil etc. We need this facility badly and it will be an economic multiplier in much the same way as the Moncton Stadium has been.

All this haggling over funding misses the big picture completely!! This is all so damned frustrating........

If you build it, they will most definitely come!!!

Scarface · #**668** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 6:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Sports infrastructure does work as a business generator.

You need to look no further than the Moncton Stadium.

If someone had come forward (cold) with a plan 7-8 years ago for a $24M 10,000 seat sports stadium for U de M, looking for government funding for this initiative, they would have been laughed out of town. The university doesn't even have a football team for cripes sake!!

The plan wasn't cold however. It was purpose built for the IAAF World Championships. Since then the stadium has also hosted three CFL games, the Canadian Track & Field Championships (twice) and both the FIFA U20 Women's World Championships and the Actual FIFA Women's World Championships. The facility has more than paid for itself in terms of taxes recovered and in promotional terms. Moncton is up there playing with the big boys and lots of people who would otherwise never heard of our city are now aware of our existence. The current FIFA event is expected to generate something like $40M in economic activity for the city and the region.

The Events Centre is also being proposed for a purpose. This purpose is to re-establish Moncton as a regional hub for arena concerts and events such as the Memorial Cup, world curling championships, national and/or world figure skating championships, Cirque d'Soleil etc. We need this facility badly and it will be an economic multiplier in much the same way as the Moncton Stadium has been.

All this haggling over funding misses the big picture completely!! This is all so damned frustrating........

If you build it, they will most definitely come!!!

Not saying that it will definitely not work It will have to be used otherwise it will just be an unused convention center, and useless to the city. Should have made that clear the first time

josh_cat_eyes · #**669** Posted **Jun 16, 2015, 9:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarface

Not saying that it will definitely not work It will have to be used otherwise it will just be an unused convention center, and useless to the city. Should have made that clear the first time

It will be used though. Bands are booking 2 nights at the Casino or going to the Metro centre, or even Summerside, PEI (Elton John, Jerry Sienfeld etc.) or something not to the region at all simply because our current venue is well below par.
A new arena will bring in events and bands to the area that currently stop their tours in Quebec or New England.

Good2go · #**670** Posted **Jun 18, 2015, 1:03 PM**

@macinnisCTV 4 minutes ago
Major recreational infrastructure announcement coming. $21 M for the the project. #Moncton @CTVAtlantic

Nashe · #**671** Posted **Jun 18, 2015, 1:50 PM**

Looks like the province finally came through ($21m), I'm hearing.

L'homard · #**672** Posted **Jun 18, 2015, 1:53 PM**

Done deal. It's a great day for Moncton as well as for all of New Brunswick.

gehrhardt · #**673** Posted **Jun 18, 2015, 1:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

Looks like the province finally came through ($21m), I'm hearing.

Yep, the City just posted on their facebook page that the Province announced $21M in funding!

Patapouf26 · #**674** Posted **Jun 18, 2015, 1:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

Looks like the province finally came through ($21m), I'm hearing.

Yup ! In french :

http://www.acadienouvelle.com/actualites...r-le-centre-multifonctionnel-de-moncton/

Taeolas · #**675** Posted **Jun 18, 2015, 2:02 PM**

FInally!

Province commits $21 million for Moncton downtown centre

Taeolas · #**676** Posted **Jun 18, 2015, 2:03 PM**

And in English:

Province commits $21 million for Moncton downtown centre

Now let's get the ground broken (again) and get this thing built!

(3 comments on CBC when I looked at it. 1 pessimistic yay and 2 oops... there's a 3rd one, nays.

)

MonctonRad · #**677** Posted **Jun 18, 2015, 2:21 PM**

Never ever look at the CBC comments section if you want to maintain your mental health.

Definitley a good news announcement, and hopefully this will spur the other developments rumoured for the west end of the downtown core. The provincial contribution however is somewhat less than the $24M that the city was looking for. I wonder if this absent funding has something to do with the lack of an ACOA contribution that the province had been expecting. This could be a final slap in the face to Robert Goguen from the provincial Liberals.

Nashe · #**678** Posted **Jun 18, 2015, 2:41 PM**

I gave up commenting on the CBC site a while back because, like most news forums, the content consists mainly of people who basically have no clue about pretty much anything. And bigots. Lots of those. Regardless of the topic, they post "Harper did this!" and "The French did this!" ad nauseum.

Taeolas · #**679** Posted **Jun 18, 2015, 2:57 PM**

So I believe now that the province has come through, the city just needs to finalize the budget with who's covering what and how, and then we'll see which proposal they accept, right?

Hopefully we'll see something soon; after so much debate and delay, I bet they want to get this rolling as fast as possible.

UptownJeff · #**680** Posted **Jun 18, 2015, 2:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

I gave up commenting on the CBC site a while back because, like most news forums, the content consists mainly of people who basically have no clue about pretty much anything. And bigots. Lots of those. Regardless of the topic, they post "Harper did this!" and "The French did this!" ad nauseum.

I do believe that this will help not only Moncton but the region as well. I'm not quite sure if this is the official "go" or are they still waiting for federal commitment?