The new convention centre is supposed to be a gleaming jewel that attracts people from all over the world to downtown Halifax. Exactly like the Central Library…if the library was closed most of the time; less architecturally interesting; intended for use only by private groups the likes of orthodontists and data miners; put multiple levels […]
Convention Central
Posted inNews + Opinion
Thursday’s 6 things you need to know
1 When the Macdonald Bridge was built 60 years ago it linked two distinct cities. Nowadays, it’s a part of the Halifax Regional Municipality but our two harbour bridges are still run by a strange authoritative body in the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission. As the Big Lift lifts off, this week’s Coast cover story looks at […]
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A tale of two convention centres
The Globe and Mail published this Animated view of Halifax’s Nova Centre yesterday with its story about the convention centre. Unlike the video, the story looked at the pros and cons of the centre, including developer Wolfgang Thiel’s issue: Thiel Group took the Nova Scotia government to court last year arguing that the Nova Centre’s […]
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Convention centre video report
This first video in a collaboration between The Coast and PLANifax takes a look at the recent changes to the Nova Centre’s design that were approved by city council. There will be more on the convention centre and more videos in future, although not necessarily together. Related Stories
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Nova Centre takes over Grafton Street
Already notorious, Tuesday night at council the Nova Centre development project assumed even greater infamy. City council voted—unanimously except for Jennifer Watts—to amend current land-use bylaws governing the zone where the convention centre will be erected (currently an iconic hole in the ground across from Durty Nelly’s and The Seahorse). That could mean losing a […]
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Canadian convention business is lagging
When Texas-based professor Heywood Sanders came to Halifax last November and spoke to city council about the state of the convention business, he was treated shabbily as a CFA who doesn’t know anything about Halifax. One objection that was raised several times was that Sanders might know a lot about the convention centre business in […]
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Rachel Brighton gets the convention centre entirely wrong
Rachel Brighton, publisher of Coastlands: The Maritimes Policy Review and columnist in the Chronicle-Herald, is a knowledgable and insightful commentator on Nova Scotia’s often-foolish attempts at economic development. So it’s with great disappointment to read her commentary in todays Chronicle-Herald, “Halifax convention centre looks like a good bet.” But, now that it looks like the […]
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Feds give $51.4 million for Halifax convention centre
The federal government has committed $51.4 million for a new convention centre in Halifax. Defence minister Peter MacKay made the announcement this morning at an $80/plate Chamber of Commerce breakfast attended by about 200 of the business and political elite of Nova Scotia. Notably absent from the event were NDP MPs and MLAs from the […]
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Percy Paris praises Scott Ferguson’s improper behaviour
How hard up is economic development minister Percy Paris for a new convention centre? So hard up that he’ll shove any impropriety on the part of Trade Centre Limited officials—financial, ethical, what have you—down the memory hole. Monday, I detailed how Scott Ferguson, president of TCL, had been warned by the TCL auditor to stop […]
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Concert loan scandal report out tomorrow
As expected, the city’s auditor general’s report on the concert loan scandal has been agendized for Tuesday, soon after the 10am start of city council’s meeting (item 9.3.1). In public session, with reporters and TV cameras present, auditor general Larry Munroe will make what will likely be a lengthy presentation to council; immediately afterwards paper […]
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Does Trade Centre’s involvement kill convention centre proposal?
Trade Centre Limited president Scott Ferguson was fully aware of the city of Halifax’s back-door loan policy to Power Promotions, says Suzanne Fougere, Ferguson’s spokesperson. But TCL had no reason to suspect the loans were improper, says Fougere. “We were given direction by HRM to release the funds from the Metro Centre account. In the […]
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The Halifax convention centre is dead in the water
Last week, CBC blogger and Twitterer extraordinaire Kady O’Malley chronicled an astonishing PR push by the federal conservatives, an unapologetic celebration of a spoils system of government. The Conservatives rolled out 70-80 Economic Action Plan celebrations, each in a Conservative riding. They ranged from an underpass in Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia to new locker rooms […]
