General Updates and News - Page 9

Barrington south · #**161** Posted **Mar 11, 2009, 10:03 PM**

I wish the boys at Templeton's all the luck though

hfx_chris · #**162** Posted **Mar 11, 2009, 11:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by City_of_Lakes

Perhaps besides tearing it down..? Maybe it's just me, but I can't picture this. It's so difficult to imagine Fenwick as anything but the imposing concrete monster it is now.

Fenwick is an awesome building... I really don't understand the problem some people have with that style of architecture.

Empire · #**163** Posted **Mar 12, 2009, 1:19 AM**

Fenwick is an impressive building. Monsters are Cogswell tower, Queen's Sq, The Prince George, Churchill apts, Fort Massey, the Sewage Treatment Plant, the new Mother House and the new addition to the Convent of the Sacred Heart just to name a few.

Jringe01 · #**164** Posted **Mar 12, 2009, 5:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Empire

Fenwick is an impressive building. Monsters are Cogswell tower, Queen's Sq, The Prince George, Churchill apts, Fort Massey, the Sewage Treatment Plant, the new Mother House and the new addition to the Convent of the Sacred Heart just to name a few.

Don't forget Young and Robie or that horrid one at the Quinpool Center

Haliguy · #**165** Posted **Mar 12, 2009, 11:54 AM**

Live a life of luxury at...Fenwick Place?
JENNIFER TAPLIN, METRO HALIFAX
March 12, 2009 12:53

The Maritimes’ tallest eyesore may be converted into luxury apartments.

Fenwick Place is 33 storeys of student housing owned by Dalhousie University in Halifax’s south end. Templeton Properties is the winning bidder for the 250-unit building, and it wants to convert it into luxury apartments.

Joe Metlege with Templeton Properties told CBC Fenwick could be the most desirable address in Nova Scotia because of its height. Part of the building’s exterior would be encased in aluminum and glass, and extra bathrooms and other upgrades would be made to the units.

“Other than to see explosives, I’m stunned and pleased,” said Northwest Arm-South End Coun. Sue Uteck.

“Fenwick has become, particularly over the past five or six years, an issue of concern for the neighbourhood with the deteriorating state of the building.”

She added that restoration over demolition would be a “win-win” for neighbours who wouldn’t have to put up with construction starting from scratch.

Alex Reede, a resident of Fenwick Place and third-year Dalhousie student, said it would be an end of an era.

“I’m from Truro and I had some friends whose parents even lived here,” he said.

At capacity Fenwick can house 425 students, but there’s nowhere near that number living there now, said Charles Crosby, spokesman for Dalhousie University.

A number of Fenwick residents left at Christmas to look for other accommodations, and most students who live there are older and close to graduating. The rest, he said, want apartment-style living and will find something comparable elsewhere.

“There’s a vacancy rate right now so it’s a matter of these folks finding a good match, and a number of them have been pounding the pavement for the last little while for the right place.”

Crosby said there are a few details to be worked out, like an engineer’s report, before the building is technically sold to Templeton Properties.

“We’re looking at having something in place by the summer,” he said.

Barrington south · #**166** Posted **Mar 12, 2009, 6:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Empire

Fenwick is an impressive building. Monsters are Cogswell tower, Queen's Sq, The Prince George, Churchill apts, Fort Massey, the Sewage Treatment Plant, the new Mother House and the new addition to the Convent of the Sacred Heart just to name a few.

I don't see what's "impressive" about it other than it's height. I guess your dazzled by it's height...because if was a 13 story building with the same appearance...I certainly hope you wouldn't be impressed with it

Barrington south · #**167** Posted **Mar 12, 2009, 7:14 PM**

could be ...the, not one of, the most desirable location to live in N.S....because of it's height...by that logic living at the top of the CN tower would be the best place to live in Canada

Jonovision · #**168** Posted **Mar 12, 2009, 9:02 PM**

Definitely some good news about Fenwick. I can't wait to see what they are going to do with it.

Just going back to the Dominion Public Building. Can someone who works in there take pictures of the atrium? I've always looked up at it and wondered what it was like inside.

worldlyhaligonian · #**169** Posted **Mar 12, 2009, 9:16 PM**

And is the new tower cladding copper? Will it oxidize?

someone123 · #**170** Posted **Mar 12, 2009, 10:45 PM**

I think people really exaggerate the impact of Fenwick. It's not that much larger than other apartment buildings and isn't hugely visible. It could be better maintained, so this is good news. Hopefully the renovations will be attractive.

Dmajackson · #**171** Posted **Mar 13, 2009, 2:07 AM**

Man and I thought the Bedford Place Mall was doing badly;

Retailer nervous about health plans for half-empty mall in Spryfield

Halifax News Net

By Lindsay Jones – The Weekly News
Capital District Health Authority is eying the Spryfield Shopping Centre for a new multi-faceted health-care centre, leaving some businesses in limbo about their future in the half-empty mall.
“We haven’t been given anything official, and my personal opinion is it should be maintained as a retail mall,” said Dan Doherty, who has run Danielson’s in the mall for 17 years. The businessman says his lease was changed to month-to-month a few years ago and that puts him in a tenuous position.
“We’ve been told that probably we’ll be given eviction notices and there might or might not be some space for us in a strip mall, but we’ve not been told yes or no for sure,” Doherty said. “I’m in limbo. I’ve got a lot invested in this business and the community … It’s very frustrating.”
The mall is one of the locations Capital Health is considering moving some of its services, spokes-man Peter Graham said. The health authority wants to be closer to the Chebucto-Spryfield community and provide a more interdisciplinary approach to health care, including public health and mental- health services, under one roof.
“Discussions are under way,” Graham said. “At this point in time, no final decision has been made about what the full complement of services will be and what type of size and space is going to be needed for it.
“Over time, it could be that other services want to co-locate there or maybe use the space one day a week.”
Moving into malls that retailers are moving out of is something Capital Health has taken advantage of elsewhere in the city. Over the last two years, the health authority has moved its family medicine administrative department, a community mental-health clinic and blood-collection clinic into The Village at Bayers Road.
“We’re more accessible located in the community and it also de-stigmatizes some of those programs and services; they’re no longer in a mental-health institution,” Graham said.
The Spryfield Shopping Centre, formerly the South Centre Mall, recently changed hands and is now owned by Toronto-based Morguard Real Estate.
Mall administrator Tanya Reddick would only say that plans to redesign the shopping centre are underway, and will likely be started this spring and completed at the end of the summer.
Reddick wouldn’t reveal the scope of the renovation plans or say whether Capital Heath is moving in, but said the mall is moving in a direction similar to The Village at Bayers Road. It will include a mix of retail and office space with a goal to revive the Denith Road shopping centre and give the public more selection, she said.
More than half — about 10 — of the storefronts in the 35-year-old Spryfield Shopping Centre are sitting empty. The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation is the latest business to pack up and leave the mall, which saw its heyday in the early ’90s before Bayers Lake was built.

City_of_Lakes · #**172** Posted **Mar 13, 2009, 1:06 PM**

Hey all. Yes, I'm new to this forum as a member, but I've been browsing this place for a long time

IMO about Fenwick.. Don't get me wrong, I'm an advocate of height in any event, but it's just so tall and imposing on the south end, where there is nothing else that even comes close in height. And it's true that none of us will likely see anything as tall built in Halifax in our lifetimes, but I just find it so unattractive, personally. It doesn't even really have an impact on the skyline, as it's so far away from downtown. I suppose if it gets a makeover then that's better than nothing

Maybe I'll have to see it with my own eyes, but right now I can't imagine anything but the huge brutalist block that's there now. Some glass would be great though, I must say!

worldlyhaligonian · #**173** Posted **Mar 13, 2009, 5:15 PM**

Great, welcome to the forum!

Yes, but "The James" was supposed to be 15-16 stories and would have visually stepped down Fenwick a bit.

If they put a tower taller than "The James" and shorter than Fenwick in the lot next to The James, I believe that are of South boardering the graveyard woud look much more coherent. It would be a wall of buildings instead of the awkward valley that exists.

someone123 · #**174** Posted **Mar 13, 2009, 5:26 PM**

Actually, I remember it being 19 at one point, then there was a plan for multiple shorter (11 storey?) buildings, then what we have now. The whole process went on for years. I wonder how much it ultimately cost the developer?

Keith P. · #**175** Posted **Mar 13, 2009, 9:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation is the latest business to pack up and leave the mall, which saw its heyday in the early ’90s before Bayers Lake was built.

I happened to be out that way (don't get to Spryfield much) and stopped in @ the Sobeys to pick up a few things. The new NSLC is attached. Jaysus! What a lovely store. Might be the most pleasing overall of their stores that I've been in.

That Sobeys is also one of their best.

Keith P. · #**176** Posted **Mar 13, 2009, 9:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pnightingale

-------

Dartmouth, NS – The Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission (HDBC) wishes to advise motorists of the following ramp closures for the weekends of February 20 to 23 and February 27 to March 2, 2009.

From 7:00 pm Friday, February 20 until 5:30 am Monday, February 23 and again from 7:00 pm Friday, February 27 until 5:30 am Monday, March 2 the MacKay Bridge Barrington Street exit and entrance ramps will be closed. During this time the Windsor/Robie to Barrington ramp will also be closed.

The closures are required to allow for the safe removal of Structure 9 (also known as the old K-ramp) from the Halifax side of the MacKay Bridge.

These closures are being done on the weekend to minimize disruption to the travelling public. Traffic will be detoured during the closures. Please note that in the case weather prevents work on one of these weekends, the alternate date will be the weekend of March 6 to 9, 2009.

The Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission is the forward thinking manager of key transportation infrastructure assets in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Its mission is to provide safe, efficient and reliable passage at an appropriate cost.

Well, it's finally all gone. The rubble has been trucked away and the temporary supports have been removed. Crews were there today grading and shaping the site. Looks rather barren right now but also much better overall.

Dmajackson · #**177** Posted **Mar 13, 2009, 10:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Well, it's finally all gone. The rubble has been trucked away and the temporary supports have been removed. Crews were there today grading and shaping the site. Looks rather barren right now but also much better overall.

It does look a lot better.

Its strange though to able to see the other ramps coming off the bridge. And well I'm going to miss the bridge-to-nowheres jokes.

But it defenitely looks a lot better. Hopefully they put in some trees.

Jonovision · #**178** Posted **Mar 13, 2009, 10:16 PM**

In my travels downtown today I noticed two things.
First. They have put up a temporary fence around a part of the existing boardwalk. The part in front of the maritime museum of the atlantic. And a few of the boards seems to be missing, so I'm guessing they are preparing to put new timbers down for the boardwalk.
The second thing I noticed, the building on the corner of Sackville and Lower Water seems to be undergoing some renovations. There was a crew on the roof working today and the first floor interior seems to have been gutted. The outside of the building appears to be in pretty poor condition too. Anyone know if something is going on here?

hfx_chris · #**179** Posted **Mar 13, 2009, 10:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barrington south

height

What is it with you and height... I like Fenwick because I like the look of the building, not the height of the building. In fact it looks completely out of place because of the height.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonovision

Just going back to the Dominion Public Building. Can someone who works in there take pictures of the atrium? I've always looked up at it and wondered what it was like inside.

I really wish I had been forward thinking enough to take some pictures of the interior when I worked there.. but basically the atrium goes from the 3rd floor (technically 2nd, but it isn't completely opened to the 2nd) all the way up to the glass arched roof at the 8th floor. There are offices on the east, west and north sides, but the south side is a giant glass wall from the 5th floor to the roof, so it's very open.
I'm sure spaustin can describe it a bit better, I'm probably missing some details. Maybe he can get us a picture too!

Jonovision · #**180** Posted **Mar 15, 2009, 2:21 AM**

I was down on the waterfront again today, and the section that is being closed off had a sign. Apparently it will be closed off for the entire spring! The sign said closed March 17th - June 30th! That makes me think they might be doing more then just putting a new surface down.