Feedback Open For Dramatic Halifax Forum Redesign
HALIFAX—The Halifax Regional Municipality wants to hear from you about its plans to dramatically reshape the Halifax Forum. The city opened an online survey, on its Shape Your City website, on April 9.
The redevelopment plan includes a complete replacement of all the recreational facilities, including two new ice surfaces. It also includes an extensive renovation of the Forum, which is a registered heritage property, that would preserve its facade.
The plan also calls for a section of the Forum property to be carved off and sold to developers to help cover the cost of the repairs and renovations.
All the proposed changes stem from a decision made in 2019, after staff came to council with a plan to save the forum by pumping as much as $89-million into repairs and replacements on the site.
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Facing such a hefty price tag, council asked staff to investigate partnerships that might offset some of the cost. Staff did that, and on August 31 presented the plan to Regional Council.
As part of their investigation, city staff put out feelers with dozens of developers to gauge interest in the forum site.
Some local companies said they’d like to build on the property. But because none really want a partnership with the city, staff recommend portioning off a parcel of land to sell, instead.
The current plan is to do that with the north portion of the property, on the corner of Young and Windsor Streets. Staff didn’t say how much the land could sell for, only that “the value of the proposed site could be significant.”
Selling a section of the forum property does create a problem: it slashes the amount of parking on the site significantly. Right now, the forum has about 500 parking spaces. The new plan would leave it with only about 150.
The city admits it expects the demand for parking will exceed the number of available parking spaces during events. However, it says overflow parking would be accommodated in nearby private parking areas and on nearby streets.
To make it work, the city says some adjustments to parking restrictions for the area may be required.