[St. John's] Convention Centre Expansion

[Townie709]

Originally Posted by mrjanejacobs

We should start a Facebook group calling for a design change in the Convention Centre...

There's no point in starting a facebook group or protesting the design via email. The design is complete, and the project has been tendered and is ready to start construction. It's now set in stone the opinions of 6 people are certainly not going to change a thing.

We'd have about as much luck protesting the demolition of the old Newfoundland Hotel today.

I don't really like it either, but the time is long gone when we could protest it in any way.

[jeddy1989]

Originally Posted by mrjanejacobs

Of course there are variations/nuances in the definitions of cities/towns/villages (however, this confusion is most common in smaller settlements) - however, rarely (in any language/culture) would a City/settlement of 1,000,000 not be considered a "City" (or the direct translation/equivalent).

Inevitably, globalization extends beyond linguistic and cultural barriers, and definitions evolve in a uniform way globally. International institutions like W.H.O. and the U.N. systematically guide the way that such terms evolve (not to mention the media), challenging cultural traditions and definitions.

There are few western (or "1st world") countries that don't differentiate between a town, a village and a city for instance. Gradually, this homogenization of cross-linguistic terminology will only accelerate as globalization and international institutions become more prominent.

That's my two cents... and alas, we're speaking American English.

I was mainly talking about perception based on relativity .. then explained how in some languages the terms change .. you are so defensive lol

[Architype]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Even within our own province...

Traditionally, in the British Empire, any community with an Anglican Cathedral was considered a city. It didn't matter if the population was 200 or 2 million - only communities with a cathedral were cities.

Now we seemingly define it at about 20,000 in population.

In Saskatchewan, by contrast, any community with 5,000 or more is classified as a city. Newfoundland would have a dozen or more cities if we followed the same formula.

Aren't there cathedrals built out in the countryside in various parts of Europe, I thought there were. Also in Western Canada there are many small cities with only a few thousand, however we don't normally refer to or think of them as such since they are so small, it is just more of a municipal designation. Greenwood BC is a city of 700, but no one would seriously call it a real city.

[mrjanejacobs]

Originally Posted by jeddy1989

I was mainly talking about perception based on relativity .. then explained how in some languages the terms change .. you are so defensive lol

haha, I really wasn't being defensive. I was just adding to exactly what you were saying (I agree with you).

[mrjanejacobs]

Originally Posted by Townie709

There's no point in starting a facebook group or protesting the design via email. The design is complete, and the project has been tendered and is ready to start construction. It's now set in stone the opinions of 6 people are certainly not going to change a thing.

We'd have about as much luck protesting the demolition of the old Newfoundland Hotel today.

I don't really like it either, but the time is long gone when we could protest it in any way.

Yeah, I agree. It's never toooo late to stop a project if there's enough public discontent. But it would be next to impossible to galvanize that kind of support at this stage in the game.

It's a little troubling however that the City gets to by-pass public consultations unlike private developers.

[Architype]

People won't complain until after it's built. Then the comments will be like "but it's lovely inside though".
You won't see this building on many postcards or photos, well, unless the photographer is very skilled.
If I tried to design something with my eyes closed, it might look something like this.

[niccanning]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Good day, St. John's council
- [SignalHillHiker]

Hopefully you'll get a response and they hear you.

HappyCity should follow your lead and put some of that advocacy work/experience to use.

[AllBlack]

I noticed the tower crane swings over New Gower Street and (seemingly) within a few feet of Cabot Place. Must have been unnerving for the guy in that office the first time the crane swung around...

[ed0797]

The City of St. John's is accepting submissions of two-dimensional digital images to be considered for use in an aluminum wall panel to be incorporated into the building façade for the Expansion of the City of St. John’s Convention Centre.

Tender: http://www.stjohns.ca/tender/request...facade-artwork

Did anyone hear about this or am I just late on the bandwagon? It seems like a pretty cool idea, I'm just wondering where on the building it'll go and how big it'll be?

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by ed0797

Tender: http://www.stjohns.ca/tender/request...facade-artwork

Did anyone hear about this or am I just late on the bandwagon? It seems like a pretty cool idea, I'm just wondering where on the building it'll go and how big it'll be?

You should be able to see it on the renders, the screen is a fair size and is on New Gower Street

[jeddy1989]

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

You should be able to see it on the renders, the screen is a fair size and is on New Gower Street

I think he's actually referring to the art that will be on the Water St. side. The ones on the New Gower St. side are screens

The façade will consist of a metal sheen material broken up by a series of slightly
protruding panels of contrasting color which will accommodate signage. A section of the
exterior will also consist of floor to ceiling glass which will reflect the interior space,
particularly at night when it will be illuminated. The protruding panels will advertise
events occurring at the Center.
• One of the larger panels situated on the Water St. side will also be reserved for the
display of a permanent photograph or artwork applied to the surface by a computer
generated pixilation process which will be commissioned via an artist competition.

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...014%202013.pdf

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by jeddy1989

I think he's actually referring to the art that will be on the Water St. side. The ones on the New Gower St. side are screens

http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...014%202013.pdf

oooh! I skimmed this it would appear, an even better idea

[crackiedog]

There is a link on the City of St. John's website showing construction photos of the convention center expansion. Only 8 on there so far. Don't know how recent they are or how often they update but it is something to look at if you are interested in tracking the progress of construction, especially for those of us not living in St. John's.

http://www.stjohns.ca/photo/conventi...e-construction

[Horsell]

I drive by there quite often and try to take note of the progress, things appear to be going at a good pace. I noticed today that they are doing some demo work on the "bump out" where the big arched window was.

These are busy times for downtown construction.

[ajcoffey]

Artwork announced.

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Loca...town-iceberg/1

[Townie709]

Originally Posted by ajcoffey

Artwork announced.

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Loca...town-iceberg/1

I bet it'll look great on the side of the convention centre! I'm still disappointed with the overall project though.. We should be expanding to compete with Halifax, Regina, Saskatoon, Quebec City, London and other similarly sized cities; not Moncton (ew), and Charlottetown and Fredericton. We seem to sorely underestimate our potential. I would have loved to see something similar to the nova centre be built here.. The city is going to have to live with the decisions it makes in 20 years when the convention centre will be in need of another doubling with nowhere to expand.

[JCE]

Live WebCam of the convention centre construction site. Along with detail and photo gallery of progress.

http://www.stjohns.ca/living-st-john...e-construction

[Horsell]

Interesting. It would have been nice if the camera had been placed higher, perhaps the Delta or Cabot Place, to give a better perspective. (see accompanying photo gallery on webcam site).

FYI...here is a webcam of the Halifax Convention Centre construction site.

http://www.novascotiawebcams.com/hal...n-history.html

WOW that's big!

[crackiedog]

Originally Posted by Horsell

Interesting. It would have been nice if the camera had been placed higher, perhaps the Delta or Cabot Place, to give a better perspective. (see accompanying photo gallery on webcam site).

FYI...here is a webcam of the Halifax Convention Centre construction site.

http://www.novascotiawebcams.com/hal...n-history.html

WOW that's big!

Just looking at the renderings for the Nova Center of which the Halifax Convention Center is part. Now that's the way to do it! Makes our convention center look a backyard shed by comparison. Too bad St. John's doesn't have leaders and developers with the civic and political will to engage in such a forward thinking development. Even if it wasn't on the same scale as the Halifax project so much more could have been put into the St. John's Convention Center expansion - hotel, residential, office, retail.

http://novacentre.ca/about/design-renderings-images/

[displacednewfie]

Originally Posted by crackiedog

Just looking at the renderings for the Nova Center of which the Halifax Convention Center is part. Now that's the way to do it! Makes our convention center look a backyard shed by comparison. Too bad St. John's doesn't have leaders and developers with the civic and political will to engage in such a forward thinking development. Even if it wasn't on the same scale as the Halifax project so much more could have been put into the St. John's Convention Center expansion - hotel, residential, office, retail.

http://novacentre.ca/about/design-renderings-images/

Funny, the same thing was said to me when I was home visiting for Christmas, but hasn't St. John's only built for the present and not for the future? Facing reality this convention centre expansion could be deemed a complete total waste of money in 10-15 years.