[Halifax] Nova Centre | 65-58-58 m | 16-15-14 fl | Completed

[OldDartmouthMark]

Yeah, call it what you may, but I think all the excitement that people are showing is great. And you can't blame them because even if you are not a diehard basketball fan, the games have been very exciting and fun to watch.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Yeah, call it what you may, but I think all the excitement that people are showing is great. And you can't blame them because even if you are not a diehard basketball fan, the games have been very exciting and fun to watch.

I guess this type of criticism tends to be from people who want credit for being fans before a given team was popular. But looking at it from the perspective of the team the bandwagon fans are still a positive.

(I've criticized the coverage of this but I was talking more about journalists or observers who see an event and then say that "everyone" in a city, province, or country likes some sports team or band. Plus there's the tendency to hunt around to find supporters of cultural phenomena in a certain Canadian city, while most others get different treatment. Maybe Halifax-based media should start telling all Atlantic Canadians that Wanderers FC is their top sports team after talking to a couple of fans in Summerside and Corner Brook. )

The Nova Centre covered area needs some kind of diffuse LED lighting embedded into the ceiling. They could do tile patterns or something like that. Fremont Street in Las Vegas is an example of the effect they should go for.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Agreed. I can see people who followed the team through the rough years almost resenting new fans who jumped on the bandwagon once the team became successful. But for the most part I view this as a positive thing as it provides extra support for the team that they can feed off of emotionally, and additionally it tends to bring people together with a common interest - something we as a society really need nowadays with all the crazy extremist politics going on in the world.

I think when anything becomes popular, you will get the people who jump on to be part of the group, and you will get people who feel excluded because they aren't part of it. It's not unique to sports, though. You don't have to look any further than the fashion world or even the world of whatever ridiculous hairstyle is popular to see the very same thing.

One thing about sports, though, is that it is purely for entertainment purposes and there are not really any 'real world' consequences for liking or not liking it. There are some who IMHO take it a little too seriously, but then that's a societal norm as well.

The media these days will jump on anything that will generate revenue, as their market is ever shrinking (partly through revenue lost due to social media) and somewhat under attack (partly by those extremist politicians). In a sense, it's almost to be expected that they would spend a lot of time promoting the Raptors phenomenon as it has become really big, and as a result is feeding it to make it bigger. In a few weeks, though, nobody will be talking about it and they will have moved on to something else...

Agreed with lighting in the Nova Centre tunnel... it's not a bad space but definitely would benefit from some improved indirect lighting.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Hotel planned for Nova Centre won't open until 2020

[ns_kid]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Hotel planned for Nova Centre won't open until 2020

Disappointing to be sure, but hardly the scoop Pam Berman seems to frame it as. Halifax Retales reported this three months ago, picked up the next day by the Halifax Examiner. Also not a surprise to anyone walking by the hotel. The unfinished interior framing has been clearly visible through the windows and unchanged for months. It’s comforting that the chain continues to promote the property on its website but I don’t have a high degree of confidence in this brand to deliver the five-star experience they promise.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Basically a nothingburger, without any clear explanation of the claim it will have tax implications for the city.

I posted it just as a note that the hotel opening will be delayed. As long as it opens within the next year I'm OK with it.

[someone123]

A shot showing some of the businesses that have moved in. This reminds me of the discussion of how big the delay can be between the substantial completion of construction and full occupancy. We still don't really know what the area's going to be like because the hotel hasn't opened yet.


Source

[OldDartmouthMark]

I think the Argyle and Sackville sides have come along nicely. I can say from personal experience that the new Gahan is a nice space - open, well decorated with some decent views of Argyle Street below from its window seats. Of course it doesn't hurt that its food and beer are pretty decent as well.

IMHO, the Nova Centre appears to be an overall plus for the area, and will be interesting once the hotel opens.

It's not without its flaws, however, as the Prince Street side has virtually nothing to offer passers-by except the entrance to Rogers Square (Grafton Street reimagined). The Market Street side is a total dead zone, though maybe that will change when the hotel entrance opens up on the southwest side. The Sackville Street side is a little more inviting and well lit, though.

The Rogers Square area is a disappointment currently. It still feels dank and dark and and kind of odd with the video screens providing a good portion of the lighting, but with typically not much of interest playing on the video and audio devices. I almost expect a Max Headroom (look it up) kind of character to appear...

The fact that it is also an entrance and exit to the parking garage takes away from it being pedestrian friendly as well. If you don't watch out you invariably will be in the way of a vehicle trying to get in/out of the building. I expect that traffic to increase exponentially once the hotel is opened.

On the parking topic, I decided to try it out last month, as I figured it's a convenient location, and hey... why not? What I found was a somewhat cavernous parking garage that had no clearly marked directions to be able to get to an exit that you could actually use. There were a couple of elevators that would have taken you into the Nova Centre but were not available to use for the public, so we, along with a group of other confused people who also chose to park there but couldn't find a way out, found ourselves walking around trying to understand how we could get outside. Finally, I had to use the speaker to security to ask how to get out, and even then it was not so easy to find the elevators that take you up to the bank area in Rogers dank dark hole, apparently the only exit acceptable to use for the general public. I shudder to think how one would get out of there in the event of an emergency.

With all that said, it is a nice, large parking garage, and knowing the layout will make things easier in the future. Make sure you bring your credit card, because that's the only accepted method of payment, and make sure you're OK with spending $20 to park there for a few hours. It's definitely not the cheapest place to park in the downtown.

But yes, the Argyle Street section at the southwest corner of the building is coming along nicely with restaurants and pubs. The rest of Argyle Street is taken up by the Convention Centre entrance and the BMO (which seems like a strange location for a bank), so there's not much of interest as the Convention Centre is always closed to the public, and I don't go to Argyle Street to do my banking.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

The fact that it is also an entrance and exit to the parking garage takes away from it being pedestrian friendly as well. If you don't watch out you invariably will be in the way of a vehicle trying to get in/out of the building. I expect that traffic to increase exponentially once the hotel is opened.

On the parking topic, I decided to try it out last month, as I figured it's a convenient location, and hey... why not? What I found was a somewhat cavernous parking garage that had no clearly marked directions to be able to get to an exit that you could actually use. There were a couple of elevators that would have taken you into the Nova Centre but were not available to use for the public, so we, along with a group of other confused people who also chose to park there but couldn't find a way out, found ourselves walking around trying to understand how we could get outside. Finally, I had to use the speaker to security to ask how to get out, and even then it was not so easy to find the elevators that take you up to the bank area in Rogers dank dark hole, apparently the only exit acceptable to use for the general public. I shudder to think how one would get out of there in the event of an emergency.

With all that said, it is a nice, large parking garage, and knowing the layout will make things easier in the future. Make sure you bring your credit card, because that's the only accepted method of payment, and make sure you're OK with spending $20 to park there for a few hours. It's definitely not the cheapest place to park in the downtown.

Not that I've tried very hard because I avoid downtown as much as possible these days, but I never could find a way into that garage. I assumed (incorrectly, obviously) that Rogers Square was pedestrian-only. I have yet to see signage either, though again, it isn't something I've actively been looking for recently.

The lack of directions for people inside the garage is troubling. I can't understand that deficiency.

I used to deal with the BMO branch on SGR and Queen, then its replacement across the street until that became too much of a pain to find parking. It was suggested I switch to their new main branch in Nova Centre. Uh, no. Apparently even the staff had big problems with the building there for the first year or so they were open.

[Hali87]

Recap video from the Hopscotch Festival a few weeks ago:

• Video Link

Rogers Square has been working unexpectedly well as an event space but in the day-to-day I agree it's pretty underwhelming so far.

[someone123]

I still haven't been there since it opened but in photos it doesn't look well lit. I expected a lot of diffuse lighting and some interesting LED installations.

Either way it's pretty unique as a permanent covered outdoor and quasi-public space.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Recap video from the Hopscotch Festival a few weeks ago:

• Video Link

Rogers Square has been working unexpectedly well as an event space but in the day-to-day I agree it's pretty underwhelming so far.

Although I didn't attend, I hear it worked well during the Raptors' championship run, so there's a positive. There's still lots of potential for the space, with some layout/detail/lighting improvements, IMHO.

[hired_goons]

I tracked down this thread specifically to see any updates on the Nova Centre hotel. Thanks for the link, Mark. Sutton Place. Nice.

[teddifax]

Sutton Place webpage states: Happily accepting reservations from July 1, 2020 onwards.

[someone123]

Sign is up:


Source

[HalifaxRetales]

Originally Posted by teddifax

Sutton Place webpage states: Happily accepting reservations from July 1, 2020 onwards.

Now Sept 8

[Jonovision]

I walked by the other day and looked into the new lobby and it looks to be of a quality we don't see in Halifax. For one, most of it is completely covered in white marble.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

I walked by the other day and looked into the new lobby and it looks to be of a quality we don't see in Halifax. For one, most of it is completely covered in white marble.

I was curious to hear how the Halifax one would turn out. There are a few around Canada. The one here in Vancouver is, I think, a bit higher end than any existing larger than boutique sized Halifax hotel. It's what I might describe as a traditional-looking medium-high-end hotel (I think around $300 a night), with somewhat frilly decor rather than sleek modern stuff.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by someone123

It's what I might describe as a traditional-looking medium-high-end hotel (I think around $300 a night), with somewhat frilly decor rather than sleek modern stuff.

It'll be hard to get any Maritimers to spend $300 a night for a weekend shopping trip to Halifax. Here's hoping the Nova Centre has a line-up of tony international conventions ready to go to keep this place alive.........

I've spent $300-400 a night at hotels before, but only because they were for major North American conventions that I could write off as a business expense. Usually these were in major cities or tourist resorts. Will Halifax be able to compete? I hope so.........

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It'll be hard to get any Maritimers to spend $300 a night for a weekend shopping trip to Halifax.

Pretty obvious at that price point that it's not geared towards mom and pop going to town. It's for business travellers.