Halifax Central Library | 27 m | 6 fl | Completed

[Duff]

Yeah the entire top floor is basically a cafe/social space I guess. Southern end is where the cafe is with probably like 10-15 tables. The doors to the rooftop patio are near the southern end. The northern end that is closest to Spring Garden has some couches and comfy chairs and small coffee tables and stuff.

[counterfactual]

The rooftop cafe will be awesome on those three days during the summer when it's not raining in Halifax...

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

The rooftop cafe will be awesome on those three days during the summer when it's not raining in Halifax...

What? You won't go out on the patio when it's raining? And you call yourself a Haligonian...

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

What? You won't go out on the patio when it's raining? And you call yourself a Haligonian...

[q12]

So I guess this is open and no longer U/C.


Source


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[Keith P.]

Wonder if the Killer Stairs have claimed any victims yet. Also wondering how much they are spending on PR. Campaign is almost overwhelming.

[Aya_Akai]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Wonder if the Killer Stairs have claimed any victims yet. Also wondering how much they are spending on PR. Campaign is almost overwhelming.

I actually saw WAY more people using the stairs than I expected.. even at the height of the day, it looked as though the only people going up the elevators were either people who legitimately needed them (wheelchair, canes, walkers, crutches etc) and people skipping the "tour" and going right for the top.

I had a toy drive I organized I was at a good chunk of the day, but the rest of the day I spent at the Library. INCREDIBLE space! I'm going to be spending a lot of time there I think.. I love the separate local history section that's all glassed in to keep it quiet. They make a decent cup of coffee at both of the cafés too! The view from the top in the "Living Room" is fantastic.

Anyway.. here's an album on imgur (click the image for full album) I compiled of a few quick snaps today (and a vision & u/c photo for comparison as it's a public album viewable worldwide I made)

[Nouvellecosse]

I was there at ribbon cutting @ 10 and it was so packed it took like 20 minutes for everyone to get in it was just an amazing sight. Everyone was taking pictures and filming. And the building and atmosphere was so incredible I am still a bit giddy. I took a bunch of pictures I'll have to sort through but I worked all day so not had time. Something I'll never forget that's for sure.

[counterfactual]

More excellent news. Volta Labs is taking over the old library, and will be turning it re-vamping it into a cutting edge tech startup incubator, which will retain some publicly accessible spaces.

http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/...he-old-library

I think this is excellent. Will bring more people to the downtown, create a tech hotspot right in the heart of the city, benefit surrounding business, and also be much better than just a sad, rotting, locked up building that the city or province would likely, over time, be derelict in maintaining.

[JET]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

More excellent news. Volta Labs is taking over the old library, and will be turning it re-vamping it into a cutting edge tech startup incubator, which will retain some publicly accessible spaces.

http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/...he-old-library

I think this is excellent. Will bring more people to the downtown, create a tech hotspot right in the heart of the city, benefit surrounding business, and also be much better than just a sad, rotting, locked up building that the city or province would likely, over time, be derelict in maintaining.

Often best to read the entire article: "But HRM staff are recommending council turn that proposal down. Instead, they suggest scrapping the old building and keeping the grounds as a public park. "

It's public land, it would be great as an expanded park; incredible, that the old library is only 63 years old and falling apart; my house is 109 years OLD and solid as the day it was built.

[Nouvellecosse]

The site already acts as a park even with the existing building there but if it's in that bad of shape then tearing it down might be best. But I don't think we need another park as there is public space across the street around the TUNS building, the courthouse, around the new library, and of course full parks up the street at Citadel Hill and the Public gardens. I know it's public land but we shouldn't let that fact force a use that isn't the best from a planning perspective. Even if we retain it as public property we could simply lease the land and reserve the right to reclaim it if a new occupant moves on at some point.

With that said, what downtown really needs is a site of sufficient size to accommodate a decent sized retail outlet. It should be a 3-4 story building built much closer to the lot line (although not necessarily right to the sidewalk) with the anchor store occupying the ground floor and offices or residential up top. Downtown has lots of small stores but no larger anchor stores. Maybe an urban format Giant Tiger or Future Shop or something. Not very "upscale" but certainly practical.

Shoppers Drug Mart fits into the SGR streetscape beautifully and they're known for their large suburban box stores so I have no doubt other suburban stores can make the leap too.

[Keith P.]

The triangle of land formed by the street intersection at Grafton/SGR and the old library is an old paupers burying ground with allegedly thousands of skeletons below the surface. It cannot be easily developed. Green space is the only likely use.

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

More excellent news. Volta Labs is taking over the old library, and will be turning it re-vamping it into a cutting edge tech startup incubator, which will retain some publicly accessible spaces.

http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/...he-old-library

I think this is excellent. Will bring more people to the downtown, create a tech hotspot right in the heart of the city, benefit surrounding business, and also be much better than just a sad, rotting, locked up building that the city or province would likely, over time, be derelict in maintaining.

MacKay & Savage press conference 1.15 pm Monday December 15 ( at new library ? )
Perhaps the land goes back to the province and then the province leases the building to Volta and retains the pathway and the park as public space. No doubt the province and the feds are pumping millions into the building for renovations.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by JET

It's public land, it would be great as an expanded park; incredible, that the old library is only 63 years old and falling apart; my house is 109 years OLD and solid as the day it was built.

I have a feeling a lot of public buildings like this are poorly maintained, and there seems to be a lot of political pressure to tear down and build anew. On top of this there seems to be no appreciation that the 20th century buildings we preserve today will be the heritage buildings of tomorrow. 40's, 50's and 60's stuff is still torn down today without a second thought. I think tearing down the Bank of Canada building was already a bit of a mistake, for example.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of value in adding the footprint of the old library building to the park. The Volta Labs proposal sounds much better, even if it does cost a bit of money to maintain the old (heritage) building.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by JET

Often best to read the entire article: "But HRM staff are recommending council turn that proposal down. Instead, they suggest scrapping the old building and keeping the grounds as a public park. "

It's public land, it would be great as an expanded park; incredible, that the old library is only 63 years old and falling apart; my house is 109 years OLD and solid as the day it was built.

Often best to read updates to the article. See at the top? Staff changed their mind (probably with the province uhm... helping them along to the right conclusion).

In fact, the Council has already transferred the deed back to the Province. Happened last week. My understanding is that the Province is going to have a proper announcement with Volta Labs to launch the project. It's about the Government's "tech" / entrepreneurial strategy.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

The site already acts as a park even with the existing building there but if it's in that bad of shape then tearing it down might be best. But I don't think we need another park as there is public space across the street around the TUNS building, the courthouse, around the new library, and of course full parks up the street at Citadel Hill and the Public gardens. I know it's public land but we shouldn't let that fact force a use that isn't the best from a planning perspective. Even if we retain it as public property we could simply lease the land and reserve the right to reclaim it if a new occupant moves on at some point.

With that said, what downtown really needs is a site of sufficient size to accommodate a decent sized retail outlet. It should be a 3-4 story building built much closer to the lot line (although not necessarily right to the sidewalk) with the anchor store occupying the ground floor and offices or residential up top. Downtown has lots of small stores but no larger anchor stores. Maybe an urban format Giant Tiger or Future Shop or something. Not very "upscale" but certainly practical.

Shoppers Drug Mart fits into the SGR streetscape beautifully and they're known for their large suburban box stores so I have no doubt other suburban stores can make the leap too.

I like your ideas 100%. But I feel like this would never happen-- as it was a public library and also a public park and war memorial, too many people would oppose this being turned into a corporate/retail space or development.

Rather than invite proposals or community input about what to do with the old library and land, in HRM's typically boring, uncreative, and thoughtless, fashion, staff just said "uhhhhh let's just make it, uhmmm another park. uh."

So, given that reality, I think a Volta Labs proposal at least will add something to the community, especially if they fix up the front of the library into a nicer public space, maybe even with some areas for seasonal merchants or food kiosks. Who knows.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Colin May

MacKay & Savage press conference 1.15 pm Monday December 15 ( at new library ? )
Perhaps the land goes back to the province and then the province leases the building to Volta and retains the pathway and the park as public space. No doubt the province and the feds are pumping millions into the building for renovations.

Yep, I think something precisely like this is happening. The land has actually already been transferred back to province (I understand happened last week).

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by JET

Often best to read the entire article: "But HRM staff are recommending council turn that proposal down. Instead, they suggest scrapping the old building and keeping the grounds as a public park. "

It's public land, it would be great as an expanded park; incredible, that the old library is only 63 years old and falling apart; my house is 109 years OLD and solid as the day it was built.

Is it falling apart, though? I feel like Volta wouldn't have proposed to renovate it for their purposes if it was falling to bits. It would't be incredibly surprising though, given how poorly our various levels of government tend to treat many of their building assets.

In any case, I don't really feel like Halifax needs more parkland in the city centre. I understand the objection to losing public space, but the city has a wealth of public and green space downtown. And it's really absurd that even with a serious proposal for adaptive re-use, from a serious potential buyer, staff would just recommend doing nothing with it and knocking it down and doing nothing with it. I'm really glad the Volta partnership is coming to pass.

[JET]

the 'library' has been saying for years that there are structural issues (too many books?)
but that also set up the rationale for having/needing to build a new library; call me cynical

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by JET

the 'library' has been saying for years that there are structural issues (too many books?)
but that also set up the rationale for having/needing to build a new library; call me cynical

Oldest trick in the bureaucrat's book - defer maintenance/repair on an asset in order to get the newest, brightest, shiniest, biggest replacement.

I still find myself wondering how much the PR extravaganza of the last few weeks has cost us. The amount of library hype in all media is astounding. That didn't just happen organically. I hope someone in the news biz digs into this once the excitement dies down. There are certainly some big bills out there that are coming due.