Bloomfield plan to go ahead

Halifax council Tuesday night unanimously adopted the Bloomfield
Master Plan, which outlines the rebuilding of the oft-contested
Bloomfield Centre.

The Bloomfield Centre consists of three former school buildings
which, over time, have come to be occupied a variety of community, arts
and non-profit groups. Citing increased maintenance costs, several
years ago the city started evicting many of those groups. The clear aim
was to empty and raze the buildings.

But thanks to the advocacy of an energized group of tenants calling
themselves Imagine Bloomfield, and the involvement of Ecology Action
Centre, city officials took a second, and then a third look at the
complex.

The result is a remarkable vision of how to rebuild a neighbourhood.
The completed plan calls for the demolition of the 1970s-era Bloomfield
School, but renovation of the two older schools—the Fielding Building
will be transformed into a Cultural Centre to be owned and managed by
the city, and the Commons Building will be owned and managed by
non-profit community groups. As well, a new four-storey building will
host arts events.

Those buildings will surround green space and on-site day care.

Additionally, two 10-storey apartments buildings will be built along
Almon Street, each with retail spaces on the ground level. Twenty
townhouses will be built along Agricola and Robie, the residences
sitting above commercial and studio space on the street level.

The aim is for at least 20 percent of the housing to be affordable
to low-income residents, but the site will also include higher-end
condos.

Underlying the rebuilding plan is a sound financial plan, which
relies on sale of the housing units and increased property taxes to
underwrite part of the reconstruction, with more funding come from
government energy efficiency grants for “greening” the older
structures. Beyond those funding sources, the project will require a
capital infusion of just $630,000 from the city—about twice what is
now spent every year simply to maintain the existing buildings.
—TB

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This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2009.