The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[MonctonRad]

Yes, that indeed is a large electronic display sign. They were testing it out the other day.

[emad]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Yes, that indeed is a large electronic display sign. They were testing it out the other day.

Received an e-mail from Empire this morning, it's opening Feb. 29th

[JasonL-Moncton]

Originally Posted by emad

Received an e-mail from Empire this morning, it's opening Feb. 29th

Gee...can't cut it any closer to 'opening in February' can they?!

[emad]

Originally Posted by JasonL-Moncton

Gee...can't cut it any closer to 'opening in February' can they?!

It's a good thing they had 29 days this year

[ballain]

Originally Posted by emad

It's a good thing they had 29 days this year

LOL taught the exact same thing

[MonctonRad]

From a mirror site of the "newspaper that shall not be named"...


First tender awarded for Discovery Centre

Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Times & Transcript

By: Brent Mazerolle

Contract for $1.34M awarded to Castle Rock Construction

The first tender has been awarded for the long-awaited Transportation Discovery Centre expansion to the Moncton Museum.

An idea first pitched in the 1990s as a rail museum by members of the local CN Pensioners Association, the first work is expected to begin this spring.

An initial tender worth $1.34 million was awarded by Moncton city council Monday night, with Castle Rock Construction the successful bidder. The motion passed unanimously with long-time councillors Merrill Henderson and Kathryn Barnes as the mover and seconder.

Henderson recognized many people, especially the pensioners, for their vision and determination to see through what had been first proposed by their member Mark Langis. 'The first meeting was held, I think, 13 years ago,' Henderson said.

Another council veteran, Pierre Boudreau, echoed Henderson.

'At times, it could have been easy to give up,' he said. 'I've never seen a more persistent group than the CN pensioners.' Councillor Daniel Bourgeois recalled how he as a municipal employee 11 years ago worked with then-councillor and later mayor Lorne Mitton on the file, along with citizens Greg Murphy and Webb Vance.

Barnes said the fundraising work of Mitton and businessmen Wes Armour and Reuben Cohen had been critical, and commended them for their efforts.

'This is a great day for all of us,' Barnes said.

The project will cost $9.3 million and the City of Moncton is contributing $6 million. Local MP Robert Goguen announced in October the federal government was providing $1.5 million toward the project.

Mayor George LeBlanc said recently they hope the province will commit $1 million to the project and the fundraising campaign is also contributing to the total cost.

The previous provincial government committed to the project but the money has so far not come from the current provincial government.

The Transportation Discovery Centre will be built in front of the museum, preserving its historic façade. Inside, visitors would find items from the city's rich transportation history, along with many hands-on exhibits. It would more than double the size of the 4,500-square-foot museum.

The external design of the structure will be done in glass in shapes that resemble both the sails of a ship and the cow-catcher of a steam locomotive, representing how Moncton's history and heritage are deeply linked to transportation. Inside, the centre is to feature galleries, a gift shop and interactive displays designed to help people of all ages learn about Moncton's history and transportation in general.

The upgraded museum will use the history of transportation as a way to look at how our society has evolved.

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

First tender awarded for Discovery Centre

Glad to see this project is going forward! This will completely re-define that area for sure


source: architecture2000

[Mattyyy]

And the speculation continues...

Development
More downtown land on market

Times & Transcript Staff

♦
22 Feb 2012 08:38AM

Two more potentially strategic properties on Main Street near Highfield Square will soon be vacant, fueling already rampant speculation that the downtown area is poised to become the site of a new events centre, convention centre, or possibly both.

The CIBC bank at 1141 Main St., near the corner of Weldon Street, will go on the market at the end of April when the branch moves into a brand new building next to the Real Atlantic Superstore mall, and now customers at the Coast Tire outlet next door are being told the car-repair shop’s operations there will end soon.

That means a stretch of Main Street frontage between Cameron and Weldon streets will be vacant in the coming weeks, directly across from Highfield Square, which will close in the fall. The announcement earlier this winter that the mall will close sparked rampant, heated speculation that it will be the future site of a significant downtown events centre, talk that only ramped up further when a prominent Vancouver developer announced it had purchased the entire block on the north side of Main Street comprising the Crowne Plaza Hotel and former Acadian bus lines terminal and everything in between the two, stretching from Highfield Street to Bonaccord Street.

The fate of the Coast Tire outlet is not yet known. For example, Coast Tire does not own the building and it isn’t known if the building has been sold, if it will be put on the market or if it will be used for other purposes.

The CIBC branch, a relatively new building, will be sold, CIBC confirms.

[MonctonRad]

I think our forum provided the source of this "rampant speculation"...

Originally Posted by Sunnybrae

FYI, Coast Tire will be closing the location at the corner of Main and Cameron...... isn't the CIBC pulling out of there too?

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Yes, the rumour is that when the new CIBC opens on East Main that this branch would close.

Are you implying that there may be another large block of land being consolidated in the Highfield Square area?

Yet more proof that the T&T pays attention to us.

[Mattyyy]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I think our forum provided the source of this "rampant speculation"...





Yet more proof that the T&T pays attention to us.

Indeed that does seem to be true! I have also noticed in the paper this morning a notice of hearing in Fredericton for Moncton's borrowing requests for capital expenses this year. The city is requesting $2,000,000 for phase 1 for the Downtown Events Center..

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by Mattyyy

Indeed that does seem to be true! I have also noticed in the paper this morning a notice of hearing in Fredericton for Moncton's borrowing requests for capital expenses this year. The city is requesting $2,000,000 for phase 1 for the Downtown Events Center..

Awesome! Could it be the money to buy the site of the future center perhaps?

[mmmatt]

On a side note I was looking over census data, and figured that if growth rates stay near what they were in this past census...Moncton will pass two goalposts in the next census...

- Our CMA ("metro") population will surpass PEIs population. Currently the CMA is at 138,600 and PEI is at 140,200, thats a difference of only 1,600. If growth rates stay the same the CMA would be 152,000 and PEI would be 144,700 by 2016. That leaves a lot of room for change...aka if PEIs growth rate sped from 3.2% to 5% and our growth rate dropped from 9.7% to 7%. In that case the CMA would be 148,300 and PEI would be 147,200 still reaching the goal of being more populous than a province!

- The CSD ("city") of Moncton will surpass Saint John to become the most populous "city" in NB. Right now Moncton is at 69,000 and Saint John is at 70,000, a difference of 1,000. If growth rates stay the same Moncton would be at 74,300 and Saint John would be at 72,100. We can also consider a change in growth rate: Moncton drops from 7.7% to 6.2% and SJ speeds from 3% to 4.5%. In that case Moncton would be at 73,280 and Saint John would be at 73,250.

A disclaimer: anything can happen in the span of 5 years, so by no means am I trying to say these milestones are "guaranteed"...just that they look likely.

[MonctonRad]

Well, I see from the paper today that Louis Leger of DMCI is agitating again for on street parking on Main Street, and the resultant conversion of Main to a one-way thoroughfare (west to east) from Highfield to Lewis/Assumption.

The apologists at the T&T seem to be acting as cheerleaders for this enterprise.

This whole idea makes me so angry that it's hard for me to type without making mistakes!!

People, Main Street is the only direct east/west route through the downtown core!!!!!!!!

Can you imagine the traffic chaos that will be created by diverting east/west traffic to Queen Street between Lewis and Archibald!!! People will avoid downtown like the plague; I know I certainly will.

This will have the exact opposite effect that DMCI wants. They want on street parking in front of Main street businesses so that lazy patrons don't have to walk a half block. Instead, those lazy (and impatient) patrons will be so repelled by the traffic nightmare downtown that they'll end up going to the mall anyway!!!

The solution is not on street parking. The solution is to build a couple more (convenient) downtown parking garages!!!

The axis of Moncton is east/west. For this reason, it's important to maintain the major east/west arteries (Main, Assomption, St.George) in such a manner that it promotes efficient traffic flow!!

To do anything else is pure folly!!! What will happen when the events centre gets built? If you want to move 10,000 people out of the core after an event efficiently, wouldn't it be rather counterintuitive to have the principle thoroughfare a narrow one way street? STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!!!

If DMCI wants to make some of the north/south connectors downtown one way, I guess that would be acceptable BUT please leave Main Street alone!!!

end of rant.

[JasonL-Moncton]

Totally agree...

On a side note, the only thing I'd like to see is on the weekend in the summer that they close off Main St. to traffic from Friday at 6pm to Sunday at 6pm...from Church to Assumption. This would allow a lot more foot traffic on Main in the summer, vendor areas, patio expansions, etc.

Main as a one way is ludicrous...

[Sushi Guy]

I agree 100% with MonctonRad!!

If they are proposing it to go all the way to Highfield, imagine when there'll be a train going through. All the parallel routes for the opposite direction options of the one-way will be block (exception of Assumption and Mountain Rd)...

IMO, a ONE-WAY-MAIN is idiotic...

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by JasonL-Moncton

On a side note, the only thing I'd like to see is on the weekend in the summer that they close off Main St. to traffic from Friday at 6pm to Sunday at 6pm...from Church to Assumption. This would allow a lot more foot traffic on Main in the summer, vendor areas, patio expansions, etc.

I like this idea. Wasn't there talk about this last year?

Big crowds on Main are great whenever there is a festival/special occasion...it should be every week-end

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Sushi Guy

If they are proposing it to go all the way to Highfield, imagine when there'll be a train going through. All the parallel routes for the opposite direction options of the one-way will be block

Extremely good point about the train. I hadn't thought about that.

Worst case scenario: Just imagine rush hour traffic diverted onto Queen Street and then - a 150 car freight train lumbers through the downtown core taking 10 minutes to pass......

It would take at least a half hour to clear the backlog of traffic!! In the meantime - absolute gridlock!!

All this so that Joe Blow can park his car right in front of Keating's and run in to pick up his pack of smokes without having to walk a half block!

Pitiful, absolutely pitiful.....

[theshark]

of course we all know than walking more than a city block can be hazzardous to your heatlh!

I can't believe that they are still contemplating this idea!!! they will not solve anything by creating more street parking, it will only feed the expectation to the custommers that they will be able to park in front of the store and thus bring more cars downtown and create a traffic nightmare! Then people will circle and circle trying to find a spot. or like said earlier, avoid the downtown area completely.

But let me tell you what is going to happen, they will continue to ignore the people that will tell them it is not a good idea, then they will pay a ridiculous amount of money for a study that will tell them that this is one of the worst idea that they had and they will keep it quiet for 5 years and start all over again....

[MonctonRad]

Below is the updated plan for the residential community at the Moncton G&CC that is going to be built by Clayton Developments:



This plan has changed substantially from the initial proposal and no longer incorporates any courseside lots. I don't find this particularly inspiring but Clayton Developments does good work and this will be the first of a number of developments which will soon line Gunningsville Blvd and help to densify the eastern section of Riverview.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I don't find this particularly inspiring but Clayton Developments does good work and this will be the first of a number of developments which will soon line Gunningsville Blvd and help to densify the eastern section of Riverview.

What are the other developments planned for Gunningsville?