The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[Mattyyy]

If the landlord has terminated the lease, I would assume Highfield is just going to get the wrecking ball, and more than likely to make room for the events center. I believe when the city was denied funding for the events center, the city was nearing a deal to finalize a building site and they planned to continue with it.

If it's not the events center, I'd be interested in knowing what is afoot as it's a large piece of land.

[mctnguy]

As long as it doesn't turn into a large call center, like Riverview mall.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by mctnguy

As long as it doesn't turn into a large call center, like Riverview mall.

It would never be that.

I suspect Mattyyy is right. Highfield Square will soon be reduced to rubble.

I think everyone would naturally assume that this announcement is tied to the events centre. The city was very close to announcing a site and releasing architectural renderings. Presumably private partners and tenants were lined up as well.

The denial of P3 funding by the feds has put the project in jeopardy, but presumably any further delay would have caused private partners to pull out and the whole house of cards might have fallen. Robert Irving and the QMJHL brass were counting on a new facility by 2015. Who knows what other committments have been made!!

Perhaps the decision has been made to bite the bullet and proceed on this file no matter what!!

As I have said, perhaps assurances of federal and provincial participation have been made in the background. Something is certainly very much afoot....

BTW - it's interesting how no one is really expressing any dismay over the loss of the Bay on this forum yet.

[Good2go]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

BTW - it's interesting how no one is really expressing any dismay over the loss of the Bay on this forum yet.

High prices, poor selection, and miserable staff - I'm dismayed they lasted this long.

[q12]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

BTW - it's interesting how no one is really expressing any dismay over the loss of the Bay on this forum yet.

It is sad to see the loss of another Bay department store. It was sad to see the the Halifax one close last year. This will leave only two Bay Stores remaining in Atlantic Canada. One in Mic Mac Mall which was recently refurbished and is quite busy, and the other at the Mayflower Mall in Sydney.

[JasonL-Moncton]

It's sad to see a 'historic' Canadian company fall from grace like this but they have priced themselves out of the market. On a chance I went in there over xmas shopping and they carry VERY expensive stuff, I mean, who needs a $100 toaster (yes I mean the kind you put slices of bread in, nothing else)!

The overhead in that store must be astronomical...

Hope this is for the events center, I hope when they do build it, that it's something for us to be proud of.

JL

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Oh, but I do think that Halifax is unique, just as all Maritime cities have their own character. This is based on geographic variables as well as the historical context in which each city has developed. This is much more evident here than it would be in, say, the mid western US and really contributes to the charm of the Maritimes. I am absolutely convinced that Halifax does have a different type of urbanism than Moncton, and that's a good thing!

Many don't want to live downtown, or near people? Well, perhaps the rich can afford the choice as opposed to the masses deluding themselves to thinking they can.

Rising gas prices, and the future shortages thereof, are the absolute least concerning to me, except for its influence on my actual concerns: The rising cost of everything else. Reading through economic news can often be depressing, especially when you see statistics and projections of how costs may become insufferable in many cirumstances (particularly for the most poor nations).

Perhaps if Moncton didn't throw so much to maintaining its current sprawl (let alone its future sprawl) investment in the core would be more evident as opposed to discussional. Proposals and plans and even some maybes is dandy, but it is not action and therefore not a relief to Moncton taxpayers, nor the environment.

Urbanism, which is not unique to Halifax, is a process of core densification which all cities are undergoing; otherwise, a progressive city they no longer are.

We could go into a long list of towns and cities that are dying from a big lack of infrustructural unaffordability, because not all forms of economic growth provide equal or even near-equal return on the investment.

Urbanism is a necessity. Moncton has existing infrustructure of which it could be making bettter use. Moncton needs to stop putting so much new development on its credit card. If the municipality does not become more sustainable, then ultimately debates and opinions will not matter: the municipality, bankrupt, will simply no longer be. No one desires this from our Acadian capital.

Geographical charm of the Maritimes? I lose the relevance of this to our needs to urbanise. Our early colonisational patterns in the Maritimes, in fact, were more urban than Moncton's developments of today. A lack of vehicles and other technologies forced people to live close together. There is nothing about Maritimer history that says we must continue sprawling.

I think, perhaps, Halifax has a different sense of urgency for its urbanism.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

BTW - it's interesting how no one is really expressing any dismay over the loss of the Bay on this forum yet.

I will answer this question myself.....

I really miss Eaton's. The Eaton's store in Moncton was wonderful with a great and varied selection of many sundry goods. I was dismayed when the whole Eaton's chain went out of business because of poor management. It was just so unnecessary.

I was heartened when the Bay stepped in to fill the Eaton's space at Highfield Square. Initially things seemed positive but the Bay ultimately was not Eaton's and soon became a disappointment for me. As the rest of the mall emptied out, I found that I had fewer and fewer reasons to go there. I think I was in Highfield Square exactly once in the last year, spending a grand total of less than $40.

I will not miss the Bay, although it would be nice if they could start afresh somewhere else in the city. I know a number of people who are quite loyal to the store.

Probably the only hope for a renewed Bay presence in Moncton would be if WalMart ever vacated Champlain Place to establish one of their standalone superstores. The Bay probably would be interested in Champlain given that it is a "fashion mall" and their nearest competitors (Sears, H&M) are already set up there. Aside from Champlain, there is little hope for the Bay to return to Moncton as new enclosed malls are no longer being built, and the Bay does not build standalone big box stores.

[Steelcowboy]

the QUIZNOS sign is up on Mountain Rd. almost next to M&M meat market (sorry I forgot that plaza's name) and tonight is the last night ..well in 10 minutes Cleve's will close at Trinity Sq. and will reopen at the old Co-op downtown on Monday.

[mylesmalley]

Who knows.. maybe that lot being cleared on Harrisville is that new WalMart haha.

[Hogie75]

I heard that Purolator was given notice to move out of their Highfield square 2nd floor call centre as of June 1 by an employee that works there.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Hogie75

I heard that Purolator was given notice to move out of their Highfield square 2nd floor call centre as of June 1 by an employee that works there.

Yet another indication that the 'ol wrecking ball is starting to swing!

I wonder when Mayor Leblanc will 'fess up and tell us all what we already know (or at least suspect).

I want to see some architectural renderings!!

[Norshorer]

Can anyone confirm if the CANADIAN Wal-Mart Super Centres (think there's a few out West?) are ANYTHING like the American Wal-Mart Super Centres?

I've been to many American versions throughout Maine & New Hampshire over the past several years and the closest one to us right now is up in Presque Isle, ME. You can basically walk in and find ANYTHING you want... ANYTHING. Electronics, groceries (incl. beer & wine), automotive, home & garden, etc. and by "groceries", I don't mean the pathetic assortment we have in our current stores here... I mean a full-fledged grocery store within a Wal-Mart complete with produce, meat & seafood depts.

Just curious if the existing Canadian versions are anything like the American ones or if they're just yet another half-arsed attempt at sticking a few rows of groceries in the among the aisles.

Also, does anyone else suspect that come 2013, Target will do nothing more than what Zellers did when they bought-out K-Mart? (i.e. Just slap a new coat of paint on the walls and keep the same inventory? There's some corners of the store where you can still see old K-Mart price tags on the shelf!)

[brod3211]

If you go to Ontario, every small town and every city has a Walmart supercentre and they are massive, huge selections of groceries , electronics, clothing ... Everything.

[alienc]

Either Highfield Square is being bull-dozed or they have some very extensive renovation plans for it. If there's any truth to the Purolator rumour then really they have absolutely no tenants in there to keep the building profitable...although I would suspect the reason for them kicking out the Bay is that presently they are losing money keeping that building standing in it's present state.

There were even rumours of them knocking down the 2 CN Buildings as well. I know when I worked there almost 10 years ago now they were not in very good shape.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Norshorer

Can anyone confirm if the CANADIAN Wal-Mart Super Centres (think there's a few out West?) are ANYTHING like the American Wal-Mart Super Centres?

I've been to many American versions throughout Maine & New Hampshire over the past several years and the closest one to us right now is up in Presque Isle, ME. You can basically walk in and find ANYTHING you want... ANYTHING. Electronics, groceries (incl. beer & wine), automotive, home & garden, etc. and by "groceries", I don't mean the pathetic assortment we have in our current stores here... I mean a full-fledged grocery store within a Wal-Mart complete with produce, meat & seafood depts.

Just curious if the existing Canadian versions are anything like the American ones or if they're just yet another half-arsed attempt at sticking a few rows of groceries in the among the aisles.

- I think the Canadian Wal-Mart Supercentres are just like their American counterparts sans the booze.

Wal-Mart will be rolling out their supercentres in major Maritime markets (including Moncton) at some point in the next couple of years. As usual, the Maritimes will be the last place in Canada that the new format will arrive.

I doubt that either of the two Moncton Wal-Marts is capable of being expanded. This would mean that a new one would have to be built. The Moncton North Wal-Mart is only 4-5 years old and is stuck in the middle of the power centre district. I think it is safe. The Champlain Place Wal-Mart is older, but is very busy and occupies a covetted location in one of the busiest shopping centres in the region. The question therefore is "would Wal-Mart keep the Champlain Place location and build a third store, or will Wal-Mart decamp Champlain Place"?

Either way, there will be a further shake-up in retailing in Moncton. It is the fear of a Wal-Mart Supercentre that has been fueling the Sobey's expansion in the city (six stores with the possibility of 7-8 neighbourhood type grocery stores) and the renovations at the three Atlantic Superstores in the metro area.

There has long been a rumour on the forum that one of the reasons why the new interchange was built for the Scoudouc Industrial Park was for the construction of a Wal-mart regional distribution centre. These things are massive. When the Wal-Mart Supercentre concept finally makes it to the region, it will be interesting to see if the distribution centre rumour pans out.

Originally Posted by Norshorer

Also, does anyone else suspect that come 2013, Target will do nothing more than what Zellers did when they bought-out K-Mart? (i.e. Just slap a new coat of paint on the walls and keep the same inventory? There's some corners of the store where you can still see old K-Mart price tags on the shelf!)

I'm not sure what you mean, neither of the two Zellers locations in Moncton was ever a K-Mart. K-Mart used to be at the Mapleton/Mountain Road intersection, and then (briefly) at the Trinity Power Centre.

I am quite sure that Target is planning major renovations when they take over the Northwest Centre Zellers location. I think there is even a good chance that this store will be expanded as the typical Target footprint is almost 50% larger than that Zellers location.

The new Target will essentially be a brand new store.

[Taeolas]

That could be a concern for the Freddy Target location. Uptown Centre has almost no room to expand, and its parking lot is tight enough as is. But they'll have to do more than slap a coat of paint on it.... They'll also have to rewire the sign that burned just before Christmas.

[Norshorer]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I'm not sure what you mean, neither of the two Zellers locations in Moncton was ever a K-Mart. K-Mart used to be at the Mapleton/Mountain Road intersection, and then (briefly) at the Trinity Power Centre.

I could have sworn the Zellers in Northwest Centre was a K-Mart back in the day? Must be mixing myself up with a Zellers in another part of the province.

All I recall is seeing aged & yellowed plastic strips covering old K-Mart pricetags on the front edges of the shelf. Since color schemes were almost the same, the walls got repainted while everything else remained the same.

I recall reading somewhere (think it was on these forums?) that the person in charge of rolling-out Target in the Canadian market had plans to bring the "same goods" as sold in USA stores over to Canada. I have my doubts (bilingual label regulations = most USA products aren't sold in Canada) but am cautiously optimistic to see what's coming down the proverbial pipe.

[nwalbert]

I don't believe that I have ever been inside highfield Square and certainly not recently but does the condition actually justify a wrecking ball? I know that sometimes the old needs to make way for the new but it doesn't seem that old me.

[alienc]

Originally Posted by nwalbert

I don't believe that I have ever been inside highfield Square and certainly not recently but does the condition actually justify a wrecking ball? I know that sometimes the old needs to make way for the new but it doesn't seem that old me.

Well, the other approach could be they plan to re-design it such that all the stores have outside entrances that face Main St? An example is the Moncton Mall (now the North-west centre). That was your typical mall with all the store entrances for the most part inside. It was completely face-lifted where they all now have outside entrances.

So they could do this with Highfield Square as well and imagine the visibility with the bus stop right in front. This was also partially done at the Parkway Mall in Saint John where the majority of the stores have an outside entrance with a few exceptions. The difference there is the "old" inside mall part still exists and is a ghost town. It's been populated by 2 call centres at each side as well (now that I think about it, it basically what they have done with the Riverview Mall!).