The redevelopment of the Cogswell Interchange, which is billed as the biggest city-building project in Halifax’s history, is expected to finish up in the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Construction will break ground this winter on the rebuild that mayor Mike Savage says will bridge a gap between peninsula Halifax’s north end and the downtown core. “Make […]
Cogswell Interchange
Posted inNews + Opinion
Council wants Cogswell engagement, but only on its own terms
Public engagement’s great, but leave the big decisions to us. That seems to be the lesson from planning staff as the city moves forward with a once-in-a-lifetime redevelopment project. Halifax council voted Tuesday to proceed onto the next major steps in redeveloping the Cogswell Interchange, with an added amendment for some robust public engagement before […]
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Cogswell redevelopment bucks the (energy) system
The city’s plans for the Cogswell Interchange redevelopment are centered on creating a source of renewable energy out of the wastewater coming from the nearby sewage treatment plant, though it remains unclear whether this will attract or deter potential buyers. The energy in the wastewater would be converted into thermal energy at a transfer station […]
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Cogswell energy plan gets cautious go-ahead
An early endorsement has been given by Regional Council to creating a district energy system on the Cogswell Interchange lands slated for redevelopment. Halifax Water plans to use heat from the nearby sewage treatment plant to create enough thermal energy to heat and cool the six acres of mixed-use developable lands HRM will sell off […]
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The road to nowhere
1945 Civic Planning Commission calls for harbour bridges and arterial roads to raise tax income. 1955 The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge opens, increasing traffic to the downtown. 1962 Fourteen acres of land in the newly created Central Redevelopment Area (what was then Jacob and Market Streets) are expropriated and the properties bulldozed. 1967 Construction begins […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Somewhere over the Interchange…
Wake up, Halifax. A new day, a new year is dawning, bringing with it a fresh opportunity to bulldoze the mistakes of the past and plan a better future. Time to turn dreams into reality. Finally, after almost five decades clogging up the gateway to downtown Halifax, the Cogswell Interchange is coming down. Later this […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Righting a wrong with the Cogswell Interchange
[Image-1] The $64-million Cogswell Interchange redevelopment will radically change the shape of Halifax’s downtown over the next several years. How that will be accomplished is John Spinelli’s job. The HRM native previously managed such large-scale construction projects as the $440-million Suncor Voyageur complex in Alberta, and the recent $1.8-billion revitalization of Union Station in Toronto. […]
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Halifax bank logo used on Halifax city’s job ad
[Image-1] For almost a month HRM’s been advertising for a project director to oversee the redevelopment of the Cogswell Interchange. It’s a big project, set to define the future of the downtown landscape. So it’s surprising no one noticed the wrong Halifax logo was being used on LinkedIn. That’s the blue-and-white logo for the United […]
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Down with the Cogswell Interchange
The latest video report from The Coast and PLANifax collab is all about the Cogswell Interchange. It’s some of the most valuable real estate in Halifax, being used for a road to nowhere, yet despite repeated reports urging its destruction and near-universal public hatred, city council is only now talking seriously about getting rid of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Inter-change of opinion
A new citizens’ group called the Strategic Urban Partnership has formed, and is pushing the the city to implement the planning goals established in HRM By Design— including the demolition and redevelopment of the Cogswell Interchange. To that end, in May SUP is hosting The Cogswell Shake-Up, a public meeting where citizens will be asked what […]