Two opposing articles from today's Herald.
Demolition work continues on the old Chronicle Herald building. A new convention centre is planned for the site. (PETER PARSONS / Staff)
‘ Boondoggle’ would block view
Heritage group says convention centre bad investment
By BILL POWER Business Reporter
AGROUP FIGHTING to protect the view from Citadel Hill wants the province to abandon a proposed $100-million invest ment in a replacement for the World Trade and Convention Centre.
“It’s like investing in a race horse that is past its prime," said Phil Pacey on Thursday at a news conference organized by the Coalition to Save the View.
The coalition — comprised of a mix of groups opposed to the development intended for the former Chronicle Herald site downtown — used the event to release data showing the North American convention industry has been in a state of decline since the end of the 1990s.
Officials in the convention industry in Halifax disputed the numbers later.
Coalition members used graphs to back up their com ments about a decline in the in dustry and to question the wis dom of the province’s commit ment to the Halifax project.
They said they are very skep tical about numbers provided by promoters of a replacement convention centre and called on the provincial government to conduct its own objective re view.
“The decision makers should not rely on flawed and inaccurate information," said coalition member Peter Delefes.
Coalition member Judy Hai ven said that by investing $100 million in the convention centre portion of the develop ment, the province would be al lowing a couple of highrise towers to be built at the former Herald site.
“It’s very disturbing that the provincial government has not looked at the economic boon doggle the convention centre industry has become," she said.
Haiven provided examples of cities that continued to experi ence declines in convention at tendance after building new convention centres, including Baltimore and Indianapolis in the United States and Nanaimo in British Columbia.
The coalition has argued for months against the towers, in sisting that they would block the panoramic view of Halifax Harbour offered from the for tress.
Much of the information pre sented at the news conference came from consultations with Heywood Sanders at the Uni versity of Texas at San Anto nio. He is considered an expert in the convention industry.
One graph prepared by the professor showed that while convention centre exhibit space grew by 11 per cent from 1998 to 2008, attendance at the 50 top Canadian events de clined by 200,000, or 32 per cent. Coalition members said they are upset about the way the provincial investment in the convention centre would allow the developer to proceed with the project, add a couple of highrise towers and reduce a portion of Grafton Street to an enclosed pedestrian walkway.
Questions about the validity of the coalition’s numbers and its arguments against investing in a convention centre were raised by Jeff Ransome, president of the Hotel Association of Nova Sco tia.
“The numbers are down in Ha lifax because we lack a modern complex to compete within an in dustry that is looking for more space," he said.
“Size and other limitations have reduced us to a B-level con vention market in the eyes of meeting planners.
This has resulted in the loss of approximately 70 major confer ences in the last three years alone."
Ransome also questioned why a group with such an obvious bias against the entire develop ment was suddenly so vocal about the convention industry.
“It is ridiculous to suggest that, because some convention centres in some markets are hav ing trouble, we should abandon the industry here."
He said this was like saying the city should abandon the entire shipping industry “if there is one leaky boat somewhere out there on the ocean."
Scott Ferguson, president and CEO of Trade Centre Ltd., said some numbers used by the coali tion focus on an entirely differ ent segment of the market and re late to some of the biggest trade show venues in the world, such as the Moscone Center in San F rancisco.
“Over the past 10 years, the trade centre in Halifax has gen erated a billion dollars for the provincial economy," he said.
(
[email protected])
More than a view at stake
ROGER TAYLOR
ANYONE walking around downtown Halifax quickly real izes that the provin cial capital’s prime business and entertainment district appears a little depressed.
There are plenty of empty storefronts and vacant lots, and the overall mood doesn’t do Halifax justice.
Nevertheless, a group has banded together to sabotage plans to inject new energy into the downtown.
The group, called the Coali tion to Save the View from Citadel Hill, believes that if it can persuade the provincial government not to participate in the construction of a new convention centre, it will be able to block an 18-storey hotel and a 14-storey office tower that are part of the complex.
The coalition held a news conference Thursday to make its case against the conven tion centre being built. It says the convention business is dying, and therefore investing in a new and expanded meet ing place in Halifax wouldn’t be worth it.
Rank Inc., the private devel oper, disagrees. It has an am bitious plan to build the mixed-use project — conven tion centre, hotel and finan cial centre, with commercial, retail and residential compo nents — on two contiguous city blocks in the heart of downtown. The plan also in cludes underground parking for 600 vehicles.
The complex is expected to cost more than $300 million; the convention centre alone is to run about $100 million.
The proposal calls for Rank to build the convention centre and lease it to Halifax Region al Municipality and the prov ince, which would manage it as it does the current World Trade and Convention Centre. One convention expert says convention centres are necessary for a growing econ omy, while the opposing group has its own expert saying the future for conventions is dire.
I’m not a convention expert, but including the convention centre as part of a new devel opment in the heart of down town is an opportunity that is not likely to come along again any time soon.
An estimated 1,500 jobs would be created during the construction phase alone. The prospect of an exciting new development in Halifax, I’m told, is attracting companies that want to set up shop in the new financial centre, increas ing the number of people working downtown.
Construction of such a com plex could also encourage a wave of much-needed devel opment downtown because of the business it would bring to the area.
The former Chronicle Her ald property on Argyle Street, where the complex is to be built, was never affected by the viewplane legislation of the 1960s, therefore highrise construction on the site was not restricted. The legislation tried to preserve the view of Halif ax Harbour from the ramparts of the Citadel.
The new HRM by Design regulations were written to accommodate the viewplane rules. So at least a couple of highrise buildings could be built on the former Herald property with or without a convention centre.
I remember what Halifax was like when the current World Trade and Convention Centre was built decades ago.
It provided an immediate boost of energy.
No matter what people say about the convention busi ness, Halifax is still a desir able location for convention planners. I’m told that trade centre management is turning away business because the current facility is lacking.
Government must negotiate a good deal on behalf of the people of Nova Scotia, every one agrees on that. But the sooner we get this complex built, the sooner Nova Sco tians will be able to reap the rewards.
(
[email protected])
Prev
Linear Mode
