Cogswell Interchange

[Keith P.]

I am wondering how the grade change here can be handled.

[JET]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I am wondering how the grade change here can be handled.

Should be some interesting levelling happening

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by JET

There is still a piece up by the Lobster Trap, But not much!

Ah, the Lobster Trap. There's a name some of the younger posters here won't recognize...

I remember seeing an ad of theirs in the Chronicle Herald in the 70s announcing the appearance of an enterprising ecdysiast with the stage name Connie Lingus, and snickering at the clueless naiveté of the stodgy old Herald's pinch-faced censors, guardians of our collective moral purity and propriety, who'd let that escape their blue pencils. I bet their ad salesmen had a good chuckle over slipping that one past their bosses too.

Connie put one over on them. It was a great moment.

[ns_kid]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Ah, the Lobster Trap. There's a name some of the younger posters here won't recognize...

That is a blast from the past. I'm not sure when the Trap closed (a Halifax Examiner article says it disappeared from the Registry of Joint Stock Companies in 1989) but for years it was a notorious fixture on the Cogswell Street side of the former Trade Mart building, virtually under the interchange and accessed by a narrow walkway down the side of the building.


Source: Halifax Examiner

I never frequented the Trap exactly, but as an 18-year old kid in 1974-75 I was a student at the old broadcasting school located in the Trade Mart. Our student radio station CRXL operated 24 hours and the only way in after hours was through the Lobster Trap, which often made for some interesting sights. I recall the night one of our new students, a fresh-faced young lass from rural Cape Breton, was scandalized when she had to pass some heavily made-up wench in front of the Trap. She was doubly appalled when we had to inform her, that wasn't a woman.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by ns_kid

That is a blast from the past. I'm not sure when the Trap closed (a Halifax Examiner article says it disappeared from the Registry of Joint Stock Companies in 1989) but for years it was a notorious fixture on the Cogswell Street side of the former Trade Mart building, virtually under the interchange and accessed by a narrow walkway down the side of the building.


Source: Halifax Examiner

I never frequented the Trap exactly, but as an 18-year old kid in 1974-75 I was a student at the old broadcasting school located in the Trade Mart. Our student radio station CRXL operated 24 hours and the only way in after hours was through the Lobster Trap, which often made for some interesting sights. I recall the night one of our new students, a fresh-faced young lass from rural Cape Breton, was scandalized when she had to pass some heavily made-up wench in front of the Trap. She was doubly appalled when we had to inform her, that wasn't a woman.

That's exactly the ad format I was remembering.

Hard to believe that was all so long ago. For that matter, I remember watching the Cogswell Interchange being paved. Feeling old today...

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

That's exactly the ad format I was remembering.

They kept that identical format for many, many years. The odd thing was that it looked outdated the first time it ever appeared. My memory may be completely faulty, but I seem to recall that when it first opened they promoted it as not your normal skin palace, but as a classy operation. I can't remember ever taking that walk, so I don't think I ever was there.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

My memory may be completely faulty, but I seem to recall that when it first opened they promoted it as not your normal skin palace, but as a classy operation. I can't remember ever taking that walk, so I don't think I ever was there.

No, your memory is fine. In the first few years they also had other types of performers (musical, comedy etc.) which I believe were also sometimes paired with the stripper acts in double-headers.

I was underage when it opened and by the time I was of age, none of my group ever had much inclination to check it out, so I never actually saw the place.

A few years ago I took a long browse through old issues of The 4th Estate on the NS Archives website (actually a pretty entertaining diversion, in a nostalgic kind of way, whatever you thought of the paper at the time) and saw a lot of those old Lobster Trap ads - including the infamous Connie Lingus one.

[Empire]

Wonder what the timeframe is for removing the plastic species tags from the newly planted trees?

[alps]

Originally Posted by ns_kid

I never frequented the Trap exactly, but as an 18-year old kid in 1974-75 I was a student at the old broadcasting school located in the Trade Mart. Our student radio station CRXL operated 24 hours and the only way in after hours was through the Lobster Trap, which often made for some interesting sights. I recall the night one of our new students, a fresh-faced young lass from rural Cape Breton, was scandalized when she had to pass some heavily made-up wench in front of the Trap. She was doubly appalled when we had to inform her, that wasn't a woman.

Who ran the broadcasting school? Any connection to the Canadian Press / Broadcast News? They occupied the office space within the Trade Mart closest to the Brunswick/Cogswell intersection I think. My parents met working there.

[Empire]

Maybe cogswell district could take on a new look?

NYC super talls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=204kByp6laY

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Empire

Maybe cogswell district could take on a new look?

HRM doesn't seem to have much orientation toward positive ambitious and transformative projects. For Cogswell this would be some kind of new landmark or infrastructure like an unusually tall and nice highrise, public building, or transit facility. Instead it mostly operates at a kind of local grumbler/catastrophizer and bean counter level. The discussion about how maybe they ran out of money so put grass on the weird nub really puts it into perspective and is totally out of step with the rhetoric around it being an amazing city-building project.

If it were up to me I'd try to add some kind of new tallest mixed-use building with integrated underground transit that also connects to the Scotia Square complex. I'd also try to add one new public amenity like a new art gallery, performing arts centre, or museum. I'd want to tie it in with the history of the area too, somehow restoring some architectural heritage, perhaps with density bonusing in exchange for reconstructing some character elements like masonry walls to expand the heritage feel around Granville.

It's funny how few potential visions were drawn up for Cogswell. This is true on SSP as well where people have done visions for areas like the Superstore on Barrington.

[Empire]

Originally Posted by someone123

HRM doesn't seem to have much orientation toward positive ambitious and transformative projects. For Cogswell this would be some kind of new landmark or infrastructure like an unusually tall and nice highrise, public building, or transit facility. Instead it mostly operates at a kind of local grumbler/catastrophizer and bean counter level. The discussion about how maybe they ran out of money so put grass on the weird nub really puts it into perspective and is totally out of step with the rhetoric around it being an amazing city-building project.

If it were up to me I'd try to add some kind of new tallest mixed-use building with integrated underground transit that also connects to the Scotia Square complex. I'd also try to add one new public amenity like a new art gallery, performing arts centre, or museum. I'd want to tie it in with the history of the area too, somehow restoring some architectural heritage, perhaps with density bonusing in exchange for reconstructing some character elements like masonry walls to expand the heritage feel around Granville.

It's funny how few potential visions were drawn up for Cogswell. This is true on SSP as well where people have done visions for areas like the Superstore on Barrington.

It is really sad how there is no vision for this district. It is just another parcel of land to build a series of mediocre structures on. Add some grass and a line of maple trees and you're done. I agree that there should have been a central signature development and build around that. A performing arts centre would be a good start. Think big with the public spaces and create iconic landmarks that this district deserves. So far, an opportunity to continue the Granville Heritage district has been turned into a poorly designed grass void.

I would have expected a competetion to design a structure like 'The Vessel' in NYC on a much smaller scale of course. We are getting dangerously close to squandering the opportunity of a lifetime to honour the past and embrace the future at this one and only site.

Hudson Yards NYC - The Shed:
https://www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com/discover/shed

Hudson Yards NYC - The Vessel
https://www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com/discover/vessel

[ns_kid]

Originally Posted by alps

Who ran the broadcasting school? Any connection to the Canadian Press / Broadcast News? They occupied the office space within the Trade Mart closest to the Brunswick/Cogswell intersection I think. My parents met working there.

The broadcasting school was initiated by the Atlantic Association of Broadcasters but administered as a vocational training program under the Department of Education. I'm not sure why it was not offered in a vocational school at the time; broadcasting is now part of the community college curriculum. The course was administered and taught by the late Rick Green and Alex J. Walling, who passed away late last year, both ex-CHNS. We actually had some pretty decent equipment -- better than some radio stations I later worked in -- and broadcast on community cable in Halifax and Dartmouth. Like other radio stations we were a BN member/subscriber but I don't believe there was any other direct relationship.

The school was located deep in the bowels of the Trade Centre, I think on the second floor. We shared the floor with the rug-laying course, so the place usually smelled of carpet off-gassing.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Empire

It is really sad how there is no vision for this district. It is just another parcel of land to build a series of mediocre structures on. Add some grass and a line of maple trees and you're done. I agree that there should have been a central signature development and build around that. A performing arts centre would be a good start. Think big with the public spaces and create iconic landmarks that this district deserves. So far, an opportunity to continue the Granville Heritage district has been turned into a poorly designed grass void.

Of course the direction or lack thereof was driven totally by the dollar signs in the collective eyes of HRM Council when the supposed windfall from the sale of building sites were shown to them.

If anyone was thinking about a big new arena/arts and entertainment facility to replace the Metro Centre, this would be an ideal spot ( and might even help them solve their grade change issues with the site). But nooooo…

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

of course the direction or lack thereof was driven totally by the dollar signs in the collective eyes of HRM Council when the supposed windfall from the sale of building sites were shown to them.

They implemented planning rules like the ramparts bylaw that may detract from this windfall. Adding amenities can increase the value too, and with cost-sharing and property taxes it's not as hard for investments to create positive spinoff from the perspective of HRM's books.

HRM tends to be around the bottom of the barrel for government investments due to a lack of cost sharing projects and investments from the province. For better or worse the current federal government is not exactly penny-pinching. There may be a new and more austere period coming soon and Halifax will have basically missed out on the good times. I wonder how much this contributes to long-run lower economic growth. There was a problem with the feds investing in economic drivers in places like Ontario and Quebec and then rural social spending and white elephants in NS.

I wonder if the politics will evolve a bit over time due to growth in the region. There will be new candidates from a now larger and more dynamic city, the province won't be as rural, etc. The 90's and 2000's attitude was that the city was basically going to grow slowly and there wasn't urgency to anything, although that still doesn't excuse a lack of vision. There may be some breathing room if the growth slows down, and a lot of it is easily slowed since it's immigration (mostly "temporary").

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by someone123

The discussion about how maybe they ran out of money so put grass on the weird nub really puts it into perspective and is totally out of step with the rhetoric around it being an amazing city-building project.

I don't believe the intention is to leave it as grass. That's just a placeholder until all the big work is done and then they can go back and do a more programmed space.

[markbeaver]

It was interesting to see the demo of the Cogswell Street ramp when the last steel cables were snipped. CTV covered it: http://ctvnews.ca/video/c2845041-cog...-crashing-down

[Keith P.]

Really a pretty poor piece by the CTV reporter.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Really a pretty poor piece by the CTV reporter.

Yeah, the video of the overpass coming down was interesting but the commentary left a lot to be desired. It would have been just as interesting (and probably more informative) without the words.

[alps]

Originally Posted by ns_kid

The broadcasting school was initiated by the Atlantic Association of Broadcasters but administered as a vocational training program under the Department of Education. I'm not sure why it was not offered in a vocational school at the time; broadcasting is now part of the community college curriculum. The course was administered and taught by the late Rick Green and Alex J. Walling, who passed away late last year, both ex-CHNS. We actually had some pretty decent equipment -- better than some radio stations I later worked in -- and broadcast on community cable in Halifax and Dartmouth. Like other radio stations we were a BN member/subscriber but I don't believe there was any other direct relationship.

The school was located deep in the bowels of the Trade Centre, I think on the second floor. We shared the floor with the rug-laying course, so the place usually smelled of carpet off-gassing.

Thanks! Very interesting!

Originally Posted by IanWatson

I don't believe the intention is to leave it as grass. That's just a placeholder until all the big work is done and then they can go back and do a more programmed space.

I hope you are correct, but I don't know that they would have bothered to plant trees and put down a small plaza if they intended to rip it all out again in the near future.