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  #6101  
Old Posted Jun 30, 2011, 4:27 PM
nwalbert nwalbert is offline
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Mill Rats eye 18 home contests
jeff ducharme
telegraph-journal

The National Basketball League of Canada has decided on a seven-team makeup and a 36-game season when the hoops league begins play in November.

The league and its prospective ownership groups met Wednesday in Toronto to look at lease agreements and put the framework in place for its inaugural season. While Ontario ownership groups from Kingston, Oshawa and London along with a group from Charlottetown, P.E.I., were able to produce lease agreements that were close enough to signing to make league officials comfortable, Barrie, Ont., was forced to drop out of the league after they were unable to make any headway with a venue there.

Ian McCarthy, interim chief operating officer for the league, said he expects all the teams to submit their final lease agreements next week.

"It wasn't surprising," McCarthy said of losing Barrie.

"We have a number that we can work with and they're all stable and ready to move forward."

The only team in the league with a signed lease is the Halifax Rainmen. The Quebec Kebs, who are trying to move into the larger Pepsi Coliseum, and the Mill Rats are still without leases. The Mill Rats are negotiating with Harbour Station on a multi-year deal.

"We emphasized the need to get dates and start building a schedule," said McCarthy, who is also president and general manager of the Mill Rats.

But he doesn't expect any of the teams will see their agreements fall through. "I think they're all close enough."

The P.E.I. group is negotiating with venues in Summerside and Charlottetown.

"It's just a matter of where they can get a better deal, Summerside or Charlottetown." McCarthy said. "London and Oshawa had their leases with them and they'll be signed by the end of the week."

Also decided Wednesday was that each team will carry a minimum of 10 players and a maximum of 12. Each roster will have to contain two Canadian players and the National Basketball League of Canada will follow FIBA rules. The only exception is the 12-minute quarter.

"Saint John, Halifax and Quebec are on the board of directors as founders and so we decided to have (the prospective teams) provide their input as a group and then we (made) those votes on behalf of the group," McCarthy said.

The league will have a balanced schedule with each team facing the other franchises six times, three on the road. Training camps and exhibition games are slated for October with the regular season to run from November to March.

The top four teams will make the playoffs with the first round being best-of-three and the final being best-of-five.

The league draft will be held at the Rogers Centre in Toronto Aug. 21 along with a combine Aug. 20-21. Quebec, Saint John and Halifax will be allowed to submit a protected list of five players by Aug. 1. The three-round draft will open with a free-agent draft followed by two rounds of Canadian players only. A draw was made to determine the order for the expansion teams with Oshawa going first, Charlottetown going second, London third and Kingston fourth. The three existing teams will follow in reverse finishing order - Saint John will lead off followed by Halifax and then Quebec.

McCarthy will begin the search for space for the league's head office in Toronto today.

"We're going to be looking to hire a commissioner along with a director of officials in the next 30 to 60 days that would work out of the Toronto office," said McCarthy.
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  #6102  
Old Posted Jul 1, 2011, 11:23 AM
nwalbert nwalbert is offline
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Saint John Convention Centre to get facelift
CBC News

Saint John Trade and Convention Centre
Conventional Wisdom Corp.

The Saint John Trade and Convention Centre is getting a $10 million facelift in order to compete against the Fredericton Convention Centre and Casino New Brunswick in Moncton.

Local politicians and people in the tourism industry say the city-owned meeting place is stuck in the 1980s, and it doesn't compete with more technologically advanced buildings.

Rick Schmidt, of Conventional Wisdom Corp. in Florida, helped re-design the building over the last six years.

"When this was built 30 years ago, there were fairly simple needs and since that time, technology has shifted and the educational requirements for meetings have changed," Schmidt said Thursday.

"Technology has become more personal to where we have more horsepower in our Smartphones than launched the space shuttle and everyone needs their connectivity."

Schmidt said the building represents the city, and there will also be aesthetic changes made to make it more attractive.

"This is all about hospitality. You're inviting someone into your living room and putting on a good party for them and that has to reflect the values of the community as well as be a commercially viable entity," he said.

The convention and trade business brings $10 million to the community each year, Schmidt said.

The new design is ready to go to tender, he said, and once it is awarded, construction could start within 90 days and be complete in four months.
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  #6103  
Old Posted Jul 4, 2011, 5:29 PM
michael_d40 michael_d40 is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolkenkratzerliebhab View Post
I'm not sure what they might have in mind, but I live not too far away from East Point and I've noticed that they have several drilling machines on top of the big rock drilling. I've seen sketch's from way back that clearly shows several large building's, plus two two smaller ones. Considering the size of two of the renderings, they could very well be some type of big-box retailer. I would like to see a Best Buy, but apparently I've heard that they're not coming.



I received an email today with some information as to whats going there. I was inquiring what was going into the old Sport Chek once they move and they came back with this email.



Michael,

Thanks for your email and you will be pleased to know that Petsmart has already signed a deal to go up the hill from us in our neighbor's development. I believe up by the Mr Big and Tall.

Regards,

Rob
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  #6104  
Old Posted Jul 5, 2011, 2:28 AM
Wolkenkratzerliebhab Wolkenkratzerliebhab is offline
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Originally Posted by michael_d40 View Post
Michael,

Thanks for your email and you will be pleased to know that Petsmart has already signed a deal to go up the hill from us in our neighbor's development. I believe up by the Mr Big and Tall.

Regards,

Rob
Thanks Michael, very interesting.
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  #6105  
Old Posted Jul 5, 2011, 12:41 PM
Southpaw78 Southpaw78 is offline
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Originally Posted by michael_d40 View Post
I received an email today with some information as to whats going there. I was inquiring what was going into the old Sport Chek once they move and they came back with this email.
Where is the SportChek moving to?
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  #6106  
Old Posted Jul 5, 2011, 12:55 PM
michael_d40 michael_d40 is online now
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Originally Posted by Southpaw78 View Post
Where is the SportChek moving to?
In the the old Mikes, Buck or Two and Village Pet Centre stirp in McAllister Place. Will be 25 thousand square feet and will include Sport Chek, Nevada Bobs Golf, Hockey Experts, S3 and I think Atmosphere. The store is done. They open in less than 3 weeks.
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  #6107  
Old Posted Jul 5, 2011, 3:25 PM
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Originally Posted by michael_d40 View Post
In the the old Mikes, Buck or Two and Village Pet Centre stirp in McAllister Place. Will be 25 thousand square feet and will include Sport Chek, Nevada Bobs Golf, Hockey Experts, S3 and I think Atmosphere. The store is done. They open in less than 3 weeks.
That's impressive. Looking forward to it.
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  #6108  
Old Posted Jul 5, 2011, 9:33 PM
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New bike lanes on Main Street onto the Viaduct were painted today. Are these permanent or just temporary whilst Harbour Passage is closed?
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  #6109  
Old Posted Jul 5, 2011, 10:15 PM
Southpaw78 Southpaw78 is offline
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Originally Posted by michael_d40 View Post
In the the old Mikes, Buck or Two and Village Pet Centre stirp in McAllister Place. Will be 25 thousand square feet and will include Sport Chek, Nevada Bobs Golf, Hockey Experts, S3 and I think Atmosphere. The store is done. They open in less than 3 weeks.
Thanks!! I'm in Ottawa, so this will be cool to check out when I'm home in SJ next month.

This will nicely complement the new development at the corner of Westmorland and McAllister.
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  #6110  
Old Posted Jul 6, 2011, 12:09 AM
michael_d40 michael_d40 is online now
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Originally Posted by GregHickman View Post
New bike lanes on Main Street onto the Viaduct were painted today. Are these permanent or just temporary whilst Harbour Passage is closed?

Apparently just until Harbour Passage re-opens. I hope they dont decide to keep it permanently. I was coming across the viaduct today and the left turn lane to union is not the bike path. So no the middle lane is the left turn lane and only one straight lane to continue down St Patrick street. Should be interesting in the morning rush to say the least. Sigh. Not looking forward to it.
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  #6111  
Old Posted Jul 6, 2011, 12:38 AM
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Apparently just until Harbour Passage re-opens. I hope they dont decide to keep it permanently. I was coming across the viaduct today and the left turn lane to union is not the bike path. So no the middle lane is the left turn lane and only one straight lane to continue down St Patrick street. Should be interesting in the morning rush to say the least. Sigh. Not looking forward to it.
I noticed that, too. Although, when I drove by, the man in the Jeep in the left turning lane didn't, as he just kept driving straight onto St. Patrick. Driving!

I also noticed that the bike lane just sort of ends at the intersection of Union. What's the plan for that? It seems that a lot of the biking lanes in Saint John just sort of stop (See: Douglas Avenue). I just think the infrastructure here isn't built for an easy biking transition.
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  #6112  
Old Posted Jul 6, 2011, 11:33 AM
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I find that as well, it's very frustrating when you're biking through town and have a beautiful bike lane then it ends all of a sudden and you're left wondering, "What the hell do I do now?"

I like the new Main Street lanes, although I'll withhold judgement until I try biking them for the first time.
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  #6113  
Old Posted Jul 7, 2011, 5:19 PM
SaintJohnCycling SaintJohnCycling is offline
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Bike Lanes

While it is frustrating that Saint John has few bike lanes and they are not well-connected, I'm very pleased that progress is being made. The temporary Main Street Bike Lane may not be perfect, but the fact that the city is making an effort and providing a solution for cyclists who would normally use Harbour Passage is great!

It would be great if this change was permanent, as Main Street does not need to be six lanes wide, but once Harbour Passage re-opens, it shouldn't be necessary.

Given that Union Street is closed, I don't think that the center lane should be left turn only at Main and Union. Funelling the traffic down to one lane, then back out to two lanes on St. Patrick Street isn't a major problem, except that some people will go through straight in the left turn lane and cause an accident.

The bike lane starts and ends at intersections. The expectation is that cyclists will access it via the crosswalks. The city will release an istructional video tomorrow.

I'm very glad that Saint John is catching up in Active Transportation!

Here is the press release: http://www.saintjohn.ca/en/home/newsroom/newsreleases/mainstreetbikelanetobeinstalledthisweek.aspx
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  #6114  
Old Posted Jul 13, 2011, 12:47 AM
RaginRonic RaginRonic is offline
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Last night, after thinking about the issue for a while, I sent an email to the good people at Cineplex Entertainment. This is what was contained in the message to them. (It does contain some stuff that really happened to me here, so anything personal of my own, I'm calling a wash right now. It is what it is, and I'm just pasting it because I wish to preserve the original context of the post, okay? =P XD)

'An Open Letter to Cineplex Entertainment.

Hello.

I have been a loyal customer of Cineplex Entertainment for the last 2 years, as of the date of this communique, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my escape experiences to both your SilverCity Hamilton Mountain Cinemas, and your SilverCity Ancaster Cinemas here in Hamilton, Ontario. Your movie experiences completely soar above anything I ever got at Empire Theatres in my former home of Saint John, New Brunswick.

Within the last few weeks, I've attended the Hamilton Mountain establishment to give myself a screening of both Cars 2, and as of yesterday afternoon, Transformers: Dark of the Moon. I saw them both in RealD 3D, and I must confess that both blew me out of my shoes!

My true intent for this e-letter is actually different, however. One thing that has bothered me as a movie goer and Movie Industry fan here in Canada is that your chain, Cineplex, has no presence in Atlantic Canada, and has not since 2004.

I find that disappointing, however, I can sympathize with the reasons that the 2004 pullout occurred. I do know that Cineplex, in that time, was, how should I put this, more fractured than it is now. You were trying to pull in all of your various theatre brands into a more cohesive network that was more centralized, and I give you a lot of positive credit for managing, somehow, to clear up what had become a bit of a mess.

But, whilst that was happening, Empire Theatres had been living up to it's name in Atlantic Canada, and gained a 'Maritime Monopoly' for itself. Sadly, that has led to diminished options for movie-goers in that region of Canada, and that market has grown stale, and frankly, boring.

I was doing some long thinking inside my head about that issue, and came up with this. With Cineplex now a LOT more unified than it was in 2004, and all that mess now long since cleaned up, why not make your return to Atlantic Canada, a movie market that is in DESPERATE need of SERIOUS competition once again?

Now, this is all just suggestion from this humble film consumer, but I really believe, deep down in my heart, that the time is NOW for Cineplex to make it's way back to the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia(who has the only Atlantic Canadian IMAX screen, by the way...not really fair), Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland-Labrador.

But, something like this could only work IF Cineplex...

A] Opened new theatres in the 7 cities of Fredericton, NB, Saint John, NB, Moncton, NB, Halifax, NS, Sydney, NS, Charlottetown, PEI, and St. John's(note the spelling), NL.

B] The locations in Saint John, Moncton, and St. John's would have to have 12 screens each, Fredericton, Charlottetown and Sydney would have 10 each, and Halifax would have 14.

C] All 7 propective theatres would have an IMAX screen in each one of them AT LAUNCH, to allow Maritimers and Newfoundlanders the opportunity to experience that huge technology, both in standard IMAX AND in IMAX 3D, without having to spend expensive gas money travelling to Halifax's Empire Bayers Lake Cinemas, and give the IMAX brand much better penetration within that market.

D] Have ticket prices be $10 maximum for adults, and $12 maximum for IMAX films, again, for adults, with special $8 pricing for weekend matinees and Tuesday evenings, no matter the screen or film format.

E] And have all screens be of Digital technology AT LAUNCH as well.

If you were to make your return to Atlantic Canada, you would also become the 1st true National Coast-To-Coast theatre chain in all of Canada, and also break up the Empire Maritime Monopoly that I do not think, feel, or believe is right for Empire to possess.

In terms of naming of the cinemas, I don't really think that you would necessarily have to attach the word 'Atlantic' to any of those possible establishments. My idea would be to name the ones in Saint John, Moncton, and St. John's as SilverCity IMAX, the ones in Fredericton, Charlottetown, and Sydney as your original Cineplex Odeon brand, with IMAX name attachment, and the Halifax location a Coliseum IMAX.

Using the above names would help to give those facilities a true connection to the theatres in other provinces, especially to the ones located in the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario, and really bring movie-goers in the Maritimes and Newfoundland into the larger Cineplex Entertainment family.

Atlantic Canadian film fanatics deserve much better, and all of you at Cineplex, Canada's Movie Leader, can bring that to them in a way they never could dream before. And also, finally, mix things up, as I sometimes say to myself, 'down east'.

Atlantic Canada is waiting for Cineplex. Please, as a humble fan, consider my communique here, and make a return to that part of this great country!

I thank you for taking time to read this, and hope you can reply back to me. Take care.'

So, does my post bear fruit here? =)
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  #6115  
Old Posted Jul 13, 2011, 12:54 AM
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That would really shake up the theatre market in AC. I can't speak for Saint John, but 28 (8+8+12)total screens in Moncton would probably not last long...but it would be interesting to see who would back out first. Empire Co has/is spending a pile of money to expand their theatre at Crystal Palace, and they recently did the same for their location in Moncton. I can't see them wanting to pull out so soon after laying out that much cash.
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  #6116  
Old Posted Jul 13, 2011, 8:51 PM
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26 screens in SJ would also probably be a bit much, but there is a gaping market hole on the West Side right now. I'm actually still surprised that Sobeys Empire chose a Lawtons over a cinema for their former grocery store location at Fairville and Catherwood (probably just another indication of their stranglehold on the movie market). If Cineplex were to open in West SJ, the likely loser would be the 4 screens at the former Riverboat in the Valley, leaving a healthy competition with Studio 10.

I believe it's been mentioned before what a missed opportunity we had to commit to a cinema/IMAX hub around King Square.
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  #6117  
Old Posted Jul 13, 2011, 9:16 PM
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I believe it's been mentioned before what a missed opportunity we had to commit to a cinema/IMAX hub around King Square.
Indeed, although it wasn't really the people that had a problem with it.

Completely agreed that the west side is in dire need of a theatre complex. Not only for the west side but also for the surrounding areas of Grand Bay, Lorneville, and even down the coast. It'd be easier for some people even in central Saint John to drive west than to drive out east to Studio 10. If there was a theatre on the west-side I couldn't see it doing poorly.

Perhaps after the Wal-Mart is built we'll see more development in the area.
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  #6118  
Old Posted Jul 14, 2011, 1:06 AM
Southpaw78 Southpaw78 is offline
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Perhaps after the Wal-Mart is built we'll see more development in the area.
What's the latest word on this? Is it expected to go where the AQ was?
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  #6119  
Old Posted Jul 14, 2011, 3:40 AM
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What's the latest word on this? Is it expected to go where the AQ was?
More-or-less, yes. Last I heard they were looking at purchasing the land on which the AQ sits and the owner was asking 500K for it.

With Fredericton buying strip clubs recently for that amount, that seems to be just about the market value for a business such as that.
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  #6120  
Old Posted Jul 14, 2011, 9:52 AM
SJTOKO SJTOKO is offline
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Originally Posted by GregHickman View Post
Indeed, although it wasn't really the people that had a problem with it.

Completely agreed that the west side is in dire need of a theatre complex. Not only for the west side but also for the surrounding areas of Grand Bay, Lorneville, and even down the coast. It'd be easier for some people even in central Saint John to drive west than to drive out east to Studio 10. If there was a theatre on the west-side I couldn't see it doing poorly.

Perhaps after the Wal-Mart is built we'll see more development in the area.
Hey, Lorneville is part of the west side... ... according to my fathers property tax forms...

No water, sewage, sidewalks or adequate public facities, but hey, that's Saint John for you.

Great waterfront property though. Not a bad community to live in. If only it weren't part of Saint John.
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