[Halifax] Nova Centre | 65-58-58 m | 16-15-14 fl | Completed

[itylers]

this has got to be the slowest project ever..... halifax is SO slow when it comes to development. if this was any other big city, the damn thing would have been up already. were still digging the hole lmao. have been for about a year now.



that was 8 months ago.... like I said, were one SLOOOW city

[haligonia]

Cut out the pessimism and actually look. That hole in the photo above is nowhere near as deep as it is today, and I'm confident that they are progressing at a steady rate. Geographical concerns notwithstanding (the bedrock and steep slopes in Halifax), I'd guess that the same excavation would have taken a similar amount of time in another city. What sort of facts do you have to back up your intense negativity? That post was bitching for the sake of bitching and totally unnecessary.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by itylers

this has got to be the slowest project ever..... halifax is SO slow when it comes to development. if this was any other big city, the damn thing would have been up already. were still digging the hole lmao. have been for about a year now.

I have to disagree. A project like this takes a long, long time, in any city, especially with such a deep excavation. This is a perfectly normal timeframe.

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by itylers

this has got to be the slowest project ever..... halifax is SO slow when it comes to development. if this was any other big city, the damn thing would have been up already. were still digging the hole lmao. have been for about a year now.



that was 8 months ago.... like I said, were one SLOOOW city

I don't know... it was a pretty huge execuvation job...and they did say it would be about 9 months of digging.

[Drybrain]

Though this is interesting. Apparently the province is looking into yet more property damage that may be being caused by Nova Centre blasting, including St. Paul's, the Dennis Building, and even Government House (as well as One Government Place, which was only built in what, the 80s?)

Except for the Carleton, every building mentioned here is government-owned, which makes me wonder if there are privately owned buildings affected as well.

Normally I'd never post anything from the Media Co-Op, which I think is among the least credible news sources on the planet, but this seems decently reported, and follows up on a story that CBC did in April.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

I don't know... it was a pretty huge execuvation job...and they did say it would be about 9 months of digging.

Agreed. Lots of bedrock to blast through, plus... doesn't Halifax have some kind of requirements for an archaeological survey in the old city before digging? This due to some historical information and artifacts having been lost in previous projects. Read about it in this book: http://www.amazon.ca/Underground-Hal.../dp/1551097435

FWIW, that's a cool seagull's view point.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

FWIW, that's a cool seagull's view point.

Agreed. It looks like he has been hired on as a foreman at the site....

[Nilan8888]

Are you familiar with the Bell Lightbox in TO? They put the last finishing touches on the Balconies about... oh, I'd say last year some time. Probably not a full year since they did. And there's probably other things here and there going on inside you can't quite see.

However, I remember walking past the excavation for that back before I even moved here in 2008. So somewhere around 2006, 2007 they might have started? Maybe even 2005.

Granted, the lightbox is WAY taller than this will be, but still. That's like 5-6 years, man, if not longer. Yes, on the wiki page it says it opened in 2010, but they were still building (the glass that fell in 2011 is proof enough of that). They opened the doors, but things were still busy as usual on the upper floors.

[haligonia]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Though this is interesting.
Normally I'd never post anything from the Media Co-Op, which I think is among the least credible news sources on the planet, but this seems decently reported, and follows up on a story that CBC did in April.

I agree, their content is hit and miss but Hilary Beaumont is a great reporter.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by haligonia

I agree, their content is hit and miss but Hilary Beaumont is a great reporter.

She is horrible. She is so left-wing that she tries to create news to match her agenda. On the weekend she did a story equating the coffee slingers unionization drive with gay rights or some similar nonsense... it was such a stretch I couldn't even follow her reasoning. That kind of nonsense is typical of much of her reporting.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

She is horrible. She is so left-wing that she tries to create news to match her agenda. On the weekend she did a story equating the coffee slingers unionization drive with gay rights or some similar nonsense... it was such a stretch I couldn't even follow her reasoning. That kind of nonsense is typical of much of her reporting.

Well, it's activist reporting for the most part, no question. But politics aside, I think if the blasting is damaging surrounding buildings--including St. Paul's, for God's sake--it's an issue of major local concern. The story is mostly about publicly owned buildings, but if a building as far away as St. Mary's is seeing damage, I'd be pretty interested to know about all the privately held buildings between the Nova site and there-especially on Argyle Street. I don't think t'd be at all unreasonable for Rank to pay for repairs if the damage is indeed found to be caused by the blasting. In fact, I'd say they have a responsibility to.

[ILoveHalifax]

This sounds like a very simple solution to our dilapidated downtown of old and empty buildings. Lets just build a few more new buildings with very deep parking garages and the blasting will knock all the old ones down.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

She is horrible. She is so left-wing that she tries to create news to match her agenda. On the weekend she did a story equating the coffee slingers unionization drive with gay rights or some similar nonsense... it was such a stretch I couldn't even follow her reasoning. That kind of nonsense is typical of much of her reporting.

Her work is more respected than yours.

[Aya_Akai]

I'm heading to Baltimore tomorrow.. er.. later today... for a convention being held at the Baltimore Convention Centre this upcoming weekend, and staying in the adjoining Hilton Baltimore.. a level or two I think of that CC is underground from what I can tell (grand ballroom or main hall kinda deal) with a couple levels of meeting rooms etc and a banquet hall above grade. Mind you it's like 4x the size Nova Centre is going to be.. but I think it'll give a cool idea of what ours could feel like when it's done!

*edit.. it's also right across the street from Oriole Park and a block or two away from M&T Bank (Ravens) Stadium.. PICS PICS PICS!!

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by RyeJay

Her work is more respected than yours.

You are such a punkass I guess I shouldn't be surprised by what you post but this is bad even for you. WTF are you talking about?

Let me connect the dots for you, moron: Hilary is a virulent left-winger. Left-wingers all oppose Nova Center. Hilary produces a trumped-up story blaming the Nova Center construction for some old buildings doing what comes naturally to them. Other left-wing sources pick up the story. That is not journalism. That is the kind of mud-slinging you do. I can see why you like her.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

You are such a punkass I guess I shouldn't be surprised by what you post but this is bad even for you. WTF are you talking about?

Let me connect the dots for you, moron: Hilary is a virulent left-winger. Left-wingers all oppose Nova Center. Hilary produces a trumped-up story blaming the Nova Center construction for some old buildings doing what comes naturally to them. Other left-wing sources pick up the story. That is not journalism. That is the kind of mud-slinging you do. I can see why you like her.

A: Not all "left wingers" opposed the Nova Centre. I'm a left-winger, but I support it. I think the same is true of others on here. (I have some reservations about all the economic fundamentals, but I believe the building will be an improvement for the area, and if the convention business isn't as robust as anticipated, the building can be turned to other uses.)

B: The story isn't trumped up; it came out of an FOI request that found that the provincial government is looking into the possibility that these damages occurring as a result of blasting. The investigation may have been prompted by anti convention-centre sentiment, but that doesn't make the info invalid. (Unless you think that it's actually a complete fabrication, quotes from provincial representatives and all—which probably we would have heard about by now, since the Herald picked the story up last night as well, and one can hardly call the Herald "left wing").

C: The buildings affected vary in age from 260 years old to only about 30 years old, and many points in between. It seems unlikely that they all suddenly incurred this damage coincidentally since January. When you send intense sonic shockwaves into the ground over and over for months, stuff's gonna get rattled—it's not "natural" aging.

[W.Sobchak]

There are cracks appearing in the Prince George building, and growing little by little. When most of your city is bedrock, it's what's going to happen when you blast. This article does feel overly alarmist, and does only point out government owned buildings.

Truth be told this article could have been used as a piece on the inactivity the provincial governent has fallen into with the maintaining of properties it owns in the city, and how many buildings it owns in the DT. The latter it needs to start to sell off, and former like wise. IMO, if a government is going to own a building it should have a 7-10 ownership plan, when once it buys the office building it renovates and upgrades to be as efficient to run as possible. Then aim to sell it in within the decade. It would create more low impact buildings and set a bar for what would become class 'A' office after the governent moves out, or allow it to be modular enough to converted into residential.

Either way it seems we have a government determined to be a player in Halifax real estate in one capacity or another. This article should have been about having a proactive landlord out of the province.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by W.Sobchak

Truth be told this article could have been used as a piece on the inactivity the provincial governent has fallen into with the maintaining of properties it owns in the city, and how many buildings it owns in the DT. The latter it needs to start to sell off, and former like wise. IMO, if a government is going to own a building it should have a 7-10 ownership plan, when once it buys the office building it renovates and upgrades to be as efficient to run as possible. Then aim to sell it in within the decade. It would create more low impact buildings and set a bar for what would become class 'A' office after the governent moves out, or allow it to be modular enough to converted into residential.

True. The province is a terrible landlord for certain properties. The Dennis Building has been leaking for years, and they haven't bothered to properly fix it (at least if the mould evacuation is anything to go by.) And both the Dennis and the armoury are in such a state that they've erected netting around them to protect passersby from falling stone, instead of just fixing the wall when problems first started appearing, which I presume is more cost-effective than letting the problem gets worse for years and years. Stone masonry just doesn't start collapsing—a good stone or brick wall can last for centuries or millennia if it's maintained. IF.

[beyeas]

According to AllNS, a spokesperson for the government has said that they do notice cracks, however it is unclear whether this is because of the blasting or just because the building is old. He did specifically note however that any cracks that they have found are superficial, and not an issue. Sounds to me like someone at this media co-op is trying to create a story where there is none. I have no idea who this reporter is and so I can't judge how good they are, but I am always suspicious when "news" is written from an activist perspective (whether from the right or the left), because activist news by definition is an opinion piece not a news piece.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by beyeas

According to AllNS, a spokesperson for the government has said that they do notice cracks, however it is unclear whether this is because of the blasting or just because the building is old. He did specifically note however that any cracks that they have found are superficial, and not an issue. Sounds to me like someone at this media co-op is trying to create a story where there is none. I have no idea who this reporter is and so I can't judge how good they are, but I am always suspicious when "news" is written from an activist perspective (whether from the right or the left), because activist news by definition is an opinion piece not a news piece.

Exactly. And lately a lot of "journalism" is exactly like that - everything in the Coast, plus a large amount of what appears in the CBC and Herald.