Civil rights activist Rocky Jones strolled up to the podium at the Peninsula Community Council Monday, with a newspaper in hand, and read a headline with disappointed defeat, “Winner emerges in bid for the St. Patrick’s Alexandra site.”
City staff recommended a residential and commercial proposal from Jono Developments, trumping two other residential pitches from United Gulf and Mythos Developments along with a collective bid from three community groups to use the former existing school.
The non-profit bid included the North End Community Health Centre, Richard Preston Centre for Excellence, and the Micmac Friendship Centre—along with their umbrella services, Direction 180, Mainline Needle Exchange and the Mi’kmaq Child Development Centre. Their bid placed last.
“I’m here to encourage members of council to just give us a chance, I’m not asking to make a decision—give us a chance, we can sit down and use all of our resources to look at what we can do. Then, if we can’t do it, c’est la vie,” said Jones, echoing the sentiment of other speakers, who asked why community consultation wasn’t part of the decision. He suggested they delay council’s verdict in order to have that discussion.
On Tuesday councilor Dawn Sloane agreed, and moved to put-off the vote, arguing that a consultation should have happened prior to the request for proposals according to the city’s process. Sloane’s motion was widely rejected.
Council voted 18-4 in favour of the developer.
Jono—co-owned by Joe Metledge and Norman Nahas—included a minimum of 5-10 percent of affordable housing in their bid along with 5-10 percent of community space.
Staff ranked the pitches based on a point system which rates qualifications, experience, financial capability and the financial offer.
The city, already under a cloud for their passing acquaintance with openness, isn’t disclosing Metledge’s offer.
Sloane and Councillor Jennifer Watts both suggested there may be a flaw in the RFP process when non-profits are at bat against commercial projects.
Bedford councilor Tim Outhit said he didn’t understand their objection to affordable housing.
“They want more things downtown and now they’re trying to delay and obstruct development downtown it would appear. I don’t get it,” he said.
After St. Pat’s Alexandra closed last spring, the property valued at $4.3 million was passed from the province to HRM. Schools over 30 years old are gifted to the city when they are no longer needed.
The non-profits asked to pay $1 for the school, planning to do any refits needed using funds from selling their prime Gottingen Street real estate.
Alongside Jones, parishioners from the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church, youth workers, activists and a community board member spoke in support of the non-profits during Monday’s meeting.
Jesse Blackwood, director of St. George’s Youthnet, argued that choosing a development over long-awaited community space adds to the lack of opportunity in the neighborhood and heightens economic inequality.
“Putting a building on this property will only send one message to the community, already feeling constantly under siege, and that is that they are being forced out of a community they dearly love. Put yourself in their position—a beautiful condo next to Uniacke Square,” said Blackwood.
“Shame, shame, shame!” shouted Rhonda Britton, pastor at Cornwallis Church, after council voted. “At the push of a button, you wipe out a community.”
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This article appears in Dec 15-21, 2011.
This whole process seems overly adversarial. The developers are prepared to invest in low-income housing and community space — they’re not the bad guys here.
Furthermore the city’s been dealing with the underused Bloomfield site for years. It’s maybe a 20 minute walk from the St. Pat’s-Alexandra site, so I understand why regional council would not want to take on another similar site.
Several condo developments have gone up near Gottingen recently but they have all been moderately-priced units. During this period the street has improved somewhat. If it were to continue to improve and new businesses were to move in it would mean more services and more potential jobs for the community, including people who live in Uniacke Square. They are not well-served by the current assortment of underused buildings and empty lots like the former Sobeys property on Gottingen.
Public space and social services are important but so is some degree of population density and commercial vitality.
Megan Leslie – where are you ? Where were you ?
Maureen MacDonald – where are you ? Where were you ? In opposition you supported closing the school and gave your reasons in a presentation to Howard Windsor.
These 2 politicians seem quite happy to support middle class yuppies near Bloomfield but when a golden opportunity arrives to place a desperately needed community centre in the heart of a poor part of their ridings they go AWOL.
The community needs to tell the 3 dippers that next election the vote will be going elsewhere.
Joe, don’t forget about Dawn “The Mouth” Sloane. Where was she when this was all going on or will she tell the truth and say she doesn’t have a clue. Afterall this didn’t happen overnight and it is her district.
So who was too lazy to go out and take an actual picture of the school? Nice rip from Google Maps, bud.
If a developer was going to invite the local communities to help design the new space, demolish & recycle the old building, build a new one, and inhabit it, I would support the development. A building project could be awesome for the community if people got to develop skills, harvest some resources, and see their ideas and values made physical.
Still, the greenest building is the one already existing. At this point in time, in the present economic, environmental, & energy climate, we don’t need to smash things, put them in the dump, and buy new. We aren’t going to have an unlimited supply of building supplies – especially cheap toxic shit from some nasty manufacturing plant somewhere a shipping container away. We need to use our resources wisely. The era of cheap energy and cheap money is ending. We should use the tail-end of this resource set to prepare for the next era of resource availability. What does that look like? Ask the younguns.
I feel that most of the city councillors are very much uninformed and detached from the area. After watching the council proceedings on tv last Tuesday, it became quite evident that the process became paramount over community concerns. I am certain that, with the exception of a few, HRM councillors do not understand nor support community concerns in the Gottingen St area.
The existing buildings for the Friendship Centre and the North End clinic are woefully inadequate in size. They are also in such a state of deterioration that they should be torn down. Yet the services they provide to residents in the area are essential since they do not exist elsewhere in the city. For example, there is no other Native gathering place in HRM, even though it is the biggest city in the Atlantic region. The city has been promising new facilities for years but has only agreed to sponsor needs assessments which have long since been completed.
The way that the city has shut out the non-profits in the Gottingen St area is an embarrassment and I would hope the if St Pat’s-Alexandria must be turned into a housing development, that the HRM will work with the community to house the NGO’s in the area in more functional and respectable facilities so that they can address the community’s increasing needs.
“Shame, shame, shame!” shouted Rhonda Britton, pastor at Cornwallis Church, after council voted. “At the push of a button, you wipe out a community.” How can the building of CLEAN condo’s next to a garbage dump that is known as Uniacke square wipe out a community? Unless the light shone on the goings on within is bright enough to have the inhabitants scurry for cover like a colony of cockroaches. For too long this uprooted,welfare supported, constantly crying, misfits, have relied on the old discrimination play. Now with the influx of productive law abiding proud owners ,the true story of the crime ridden neighbour hoods will be there, with all of the hoods in plain view. Maybe this is the destruction that the Rev alludes to. If so then bring it on,like tomorrow if possible.