General Updates and News

[Colin May]

Savage said this extra money would help pay for projects the municipality was willing to dip into reserve funds to finance.

"We have a strategic capital list that goes into the hundreds of millions of dollars," said Savage. "It won't be hard to identify things that it should go on."

But Savage doesn't expect council to go on a spending spree.

"It doesn't mean that we're all of a sudden going to be profligate with our spending," he said. "It doesn't mean that we can go out and necessarily spend what we weren't going to spend."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot...und-halifax-municipal-politics-1.5063540

[Keith P.]

HRM will almost certainly piss it all away. Drunken sailors, etc.

[Dmajackson]

While searching for a rendering of another project I stumbled across Root Architecture

Mied-Use Residential #1 appears to be a redevelopment of Inglis Manor at Inglis & Brussels Street.



This is listed as Mainland Halifax;

[Keith P.]

I had occasion today to drive up Kempt Rd for the first time in months and was surprised to see two big changes. The former used car lot at Livingstone St owned by Steele was getting construction fencing installed around its perimeter all the way up to Robie/Massachusetts Ave. When I was much younger I used to live not far from there when that was Tanner Chrysler-Plymouth and would often browse that lot. There were still vehicles parked there today but I imagine they will be relocated soon. Assume it is a development for one of Steele's enterprises but not sure which.

The bigger surprise and bigger project was the large O'Regans lot on the other side of Kempt, between their BMW and Kia dealerships. It is totally dug up with a huge pile of dirt relocated to the rear of the lot and a large foundation is being put in place. I can only assume it is a new home for either the former Hillcrest VW which they bought a few years ago, or perhaps their GM dealership on Robie. They both need new homes, especially the GM location, but it can only be one or the other.

Anyone have further info on either of these projects?

[Keith P.]

I forgot to add that I also noticed today that the house on the west side of Robie St next to the Shell station at Robie and North had been demolished a while ago. The lot was paved over and is now additional display space for City Mazda. Surprised that there wasn't a peep from the usual suspects this time after the huge cause celebre that erupted a few years ago when Steele did the same across the street.

I was always curious about that house, who lived there, etc. I never saw anyone around it and it looked unoccupied for a long time but I have no idea if that was actually the case.

https://goo.gl/maps/U4GK8HoJyaP2

[kph06]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I had occasion today to drive up Kempt Rd for the first time in months and was surprised to see two big changes. The former used car lot at Livingstone St owned by Steele was getting construction fencing installed around its perimeter all the way up to Robie/Massachusetts Ave. When I was much younger I used to live not far from there when that was Tanner Chrysler-Plymouth and would often browse that lot. There were still vehicles parked there today but I imagine they will be relocated soon. Assume it is a development for one of Steele's enterprises but not sure which.

The bigger surprise and bigger project was the large O'Regans lot on the other side of Kempt, between their BMW and Kia dealerships. It is totally dug up with a huge pile of dirt relocated to the rear of the lot and a large foundation is being put in place. I can only assume it is a new home for either the former Hillcrest VW which they bought a few years ago, or perhaps their GM dealership on Robie. They both need new homes, especially the GM location, but it can only be one or the other.

Anyone have further info on either of these projects?

Under construction is the new VW. I had heard a luxury brand (Jaguar/Land Rover I think) was relocating to the lot where you are seeing fencing.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by kph06

Under construction is the new VW. I had heard a luxury brand (Jaguar/Land Rover I think) was relocating to the lot where you are seeing fencing.

Thanks for the updates!

I wonder when O'Regans will do something with the GM dealership on Robie. They did a big reno there 20 years ago which IMO was a mistake as they are confined by the lot size, the building is already too small and outdated, and it is not a good location for a car dealer. The land would be valuable in a development.

[kph06]

This is a rendering for the building on Prince Street:



Source: Marco Group

[Keith P.]

Holy corrugated metal siding, Batman!

[Jonovision]

20190327_175007 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

[Wolkenkratzerliebhab]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

20190327_175007 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

I hate to say it, but this building is 🞵🞵🞵🞵-ugly!

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by Wolkenkratzerliebhab

I hate to say it, but this building is 🞵🞵🞵🞵-ugly!

It's pretty decent in person. And the beige building is not part of the development.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Wolkenkratzerliebhab

I hate to say it, but this building is 🞵🞵🞵🞵-ugly!

But per the picture, it's BUILT BOLD!

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Wolkenkratzerliebhab

I hate to say it, but this building is 🞵🞵🞵🞵-ugly!

I don't hate it... but, I haven't seen it in person yet.

[JET]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

I don't hate it... but, I haven't seen it in person yet.

I live two blocks away, I quite like it, it does stand out, the two balconies facing the harbor are neat.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

The small building at Stadaconna is nearly done now.

20190217_134304 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

A story in the Herald about the reaction to this structure:

https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/l...hoot-down-hideous-dnd-drill-shed-296242/

Some residents say the new Stadacona drill shed on at the Halifax military base on Admiral Way is a sight for sore eyes.

“I was walking by a few days ago and it felt like a place to put your head down and hustle through as fast as possible,” said Matthew Halliday, who lives nearby and walks by it often.

“It feels like a generic, by-the-numbers building that could be plunked into an industrial park and doesn’t really belong on Gottingen Street,” he said.

The new building, officially known as the consolidated seamanship training facility, borders the gate on Gottingen Street. Concrete panels line its 13.5 metre-high walls, with only two windows facing the street.

The facility will have two special training areas, a drill hall, offices and classrooms.

Three floors of the building replicate the a ship’s interior, said Todd Osmond, co-ordinator of construction services in Halifax for Department Construction Canada.

“This will be a flagship training facility for the Navy, since it enables them to train on land and with inside conditions,” Osmond said in a recent article on DCC’s website.

Halliday took to Twitter to voice his complaints, where many replied with similar thoughts.

“A bigger middle finger to the neighbourhood is hard to imagine,” tweeted Kyle Miller.

“So, it’s entity hideous, I agree,” wrote Danielle Edsall, “But this building will be used for training and will likely have secret material in it, and there are rules with regards to how it is housed and processed. And the lack of windows in that side is likely because of that.”

Halliday said although he understands the building is most likely designed to fit specific security measures, he hopes the outside can be modified.

“If they’re interested in being good neighbours, maybe soften the impact of it with art ... murals or vegetation,” he suggested.

“There’s houses on the other side, there’s businesses, there’s all kinds of stuff there and this creates a bleak, barren sort of feeling,” said Halliday.

The Department of National Defence couldn’t respond by deadline on whether they would consider adding a mural.

The training facility is to be completed in January 2020.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Stephen Archibald did a blog on this...

https://halifaxbloggers.ca/noticedinnova...dinary-new-building-on-gottingen-street/

A few excerpts below:

So what is there to amuse the poor pedestrians as they trek along the sidewalk past the grim rectangle? Why, that would be the 160-year-old gates that have been preserved, but have not led anywhere for 70 years or so.

Finally the big reveal. The gates were built as the entrance to the Wellington Barracks, the largest buildings in Nova Scotia in the 1860s. Through a passageway in the soldier’s barracks, you catch a glimpse of the officers’ barracks on the other side of the large Parade Square. All very grand, don’t you think?

So where does that leave us? The gates, that are now considered a monument to the Royal Canadian Regiment, might suggest a path forward. Maybe tableaux, like the gates, that tell stories about the base, could be inserted into the wall. And if nothing else, remember that before the present concrete wall, the stone wall was far taller and rather wacky. A little of that goes a long way.

In my opinion, yeah the new building is bleak, and the new wall even more bleak, but sometimes buildings just have to be functional. Not everything can be built with streetside cafes. This building will have great function to provide training for our military, who have the job of providing protection for our country, so in this case function is a higher priority over form. FWIW, it's no less bleak and imaginative than the ubiquitous glass box that everybody coos over because it's tall and shiny, but they are still just featureless boxes.

Another function over form building that comes to mind is the Irving Shipbuilding/Halifax Shipyard structure. It is basically a series of big white boxes, but what happens inside is necessary and extraordinary. Function over form has to happen sometime...

[Colin May]

It needs what the famous song refers to as 'the muriel on the wall'.
https://www.google.com/search?q=The+muri...hVDnuAKHbPpAVgQ_AUIDigB&biw=1422&bih=978

[terrynorthend]

"Some residents say the new Stadacona drill shed on at the Halifax military base on Admiral Way is a sight for sore eyes."

Given the tenor of the article, I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean what they think it does. It's good to see the editorial standards at the 'ol CH haven't slipped an iota.

[OldDartmouthMark]

LOL... that's exactly what I thought when I read it...

a sight for sore eyes
informal
​
a way of saying that you are very pleased to see someone or that you think someone is very attractive:
You're a sight for sore eyes!

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/a-sight-for-sore-eyes