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Update: As noted by reporter Michael Gorman the province will still pay out its third of the Convention Centre price over the next 25 years (like HRM). The full $160-million price is just on the books this year.
More than a quarter of Nova Scotia‘s capital plan funding for the next fiscal year is earmarked for the Halifax Convention Centre.
Finance minister Randy Delorey announced the details of the $481-million infrastructure plans today in Halifax.
“Whether it’s renovations to schools, paving roads or investments in hospitals, these projects will create jobs and opportunities across the province,” Delorey writes in a press release. “Communities and businesses will benefit from these projects, at a cost that aligns with the province’s fiscal plan.”
Other projects include $222.5 million to be spent on highways and bridges, $82 million on schools and $26.5 million for hospitals.
At 27.3 percent of the budget, funding for the new downtown convention centre is the second-largest item out of Nova Scotia’s planned capital expenses budget items—next to highways (37 percent) and well above other items including non-convention centre buildings (17.4 percent), capital grants (9.9 percent), IT projects (five percent) and vehicles and equipment (three percent).
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The $164.2-million cost for Joe Ramia’s convention complex is being shared by all three levels of government. That was the deal committed to by the previous federal, provincial and municipal governments. Federal funding won’t kick in until the project is complete. The municipality and the province is paying out its $56.4 million over 25 years leaving Nova Scotia with this one-time $56.4 million investment.
Both Nova Scotia and the HRM will split the convention centre’s operating costs and annual deficits.
Over a quarter of what the province plans to spend has budgeted on major infrastructure projects in 2016/17 is going right into the gargantuan Argyle Street coliseum, but even without that sum the capital plan budget is up several million dollars from last year’s.
The Halifax Convention Centre is scheduled to be fully open in January of next year, at which point hopefully our world-class attractions will hide our third-world hospitals.
Crumbling infrastructure, rural decay, century old water system, a hospital in ruins, unmet demand for social services…
Posted by John Wesley Chisholm on Tuesday, January 19, 2016
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This article appears in Jan 14-20, 2016.
what a bunch of bullshit. fuck this conventional centre and all the arsehats that thought dumping public funds into it was a good idea.
Living off the grid is looking better every day.
this is what is wrong with Nova Scotia and Halifax. The politicians spend your money on things they want and can have fun at. Really makes me mad that the citizens of Halifax and Nova Scotia are getting this Convention Centre ( PP4P ) ( Party Place 4 Politicians ) and we really need a new Hospital.
Does anyone understand economics? How about planning? Those are the underpinnings of the decisions that were made.
I suggest you look further than two feet in front of you before making any further asinine comments. You’re painting Halifax as a bunch of inept yokels.
Alright, tomorrow we tear down the VG. Sure, we’ll lose patient rooms, palliative units, imagining systems, operating roms, labs, pharmacy but we’ll put them in the Forum. During the few months it takes to relocate and set that shit up, we will create memorials for those who died as a result of the lack of planning.
Brutal.
NS is providing it’s contribution to the convention centre project in one payment, as opposed to the city of Halifax which is doing so over a 25 year period. The 56 million dollars is a one time payment.
As for the hospital, it is safe to say everyone is in agreement that a new facility is needed. However, a hospital is not built over night. It isn’t designed over night either. This takes a lot of time, there are many many many things to take into consideration.
This isn’t a problem that money can be thrown at … yet. For anyone waiting for the government’s budget to show millions of dollars allotted to a new hospital, wait for next year when the design process is underway. Wait another year and it will be hundreds of millions when it is ready to be built. And tens of millions again to tear the old one down.
Seriously, did anyone actually read the fucking article?
That was my bad wallawalla.
NS is providing it’s contribution to the convention centre project over 25 years, just like HRM. The full amount of the centre—$160 million or so—is on Nova Scotia’s books this year for capital planning. The article’s updated to reflect that.