The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[ithree]

Does anyone know what's happening in Victoria Park? There's a couple earth movers and a giant hole in the middle of the park.

[David_99]

Originally Posted by ithree

Does anyone know what's happening in Victoria Park? There's a couple earth movers and a giant hole in the middle of the park.

I'm not sure but they are digging holes all over the city replacing pipes.

Also the On-ramp/Off-ramp and entrance to McNaughton High on St George are all under construction. Were they planning on building a new intersection with lights there or another roundabout?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by David_99

I'm not sure but they are digging holes all over the city replacing pipes.

Also the On-ramp/Off-ramp and entrance to McNaughton High on St George are all under construction. Were they planning on building a new intersection with lights there or another roundabout?

- As for Victoria Park, I have no idea but they were planning to rejuvenate the entire park in a multi-year phased manner. They did the new bandstand area a couple of years ago, perhaps it is time for phase two.

- re: the entrance to McNaughton High..........they are realligning the northbound off ramp from Wheeler Blvd. so that it will access St. George St. directly across from the McNaughton High School access road. This new intersection will be signalized. There will be no roundabout.

[mylesmalley]

Crombie REIT still lists both Terminal Plaza buildings, as well as Highfield Square under their Moncton assets. I suspect some kind of announcement would have been made had the mall/area been sold to the Irvings.

As for St George at Wheeler, I don't recall exactly how they were going to reconfigure the intersection, but I'm pretty sure it included an additional set of lights on the high school side of the underpass.

[mylesmalley]

My bad, MonctonRad. I guess I didn't read your entire post. That makes a lot of sense.

However, by doing that, are they planning on removing the circular ramp that connects eastbound wheeler to westbound St George? If they realign the current offramp on that side, you'll have two ways to access St. George from the same side. One ramp would be redundant.

[MonctonRad]

I'm pretty sure the other ramps will remain as they currently are.

There were two major issues at that interchange that are going to be addressed by this reconfiguration and signalization:

(1) - The left turning traffic into McNaughton High in the morning is very heavy. There are a lot of near misses every day because of the high westbound traffic volume on St. George heading towards MID. Traffic lights are essential to improve highway safety.

(2) - At present, the northbound off ramp from Wheeler is slightly offset from the McNaughton access road. There are some vehicles exiting from Wheeler that proceed obliquely across St. George to get into McNaughton. This is flagrantly illegal and very dangerous. By alligning the offramp with the access road and introducing signals, these issues will disappear.

[mikeohara]

Originally Posted by mctnguy

What rumors are these that you speak of?

I've heard a couple of things. All around the fact that that site will be the future home of a new indoor stadium to replace Coliseum sooner than later.

Rumours include:

(1) Highfield Square & CN towers to be consumed for new Coliseum replacement/convention center
(2) Just the Mall would be consumed for above mentioned reason


(1) The entire property including the mall and the CN buildings will be demolished and all available land would be utilized. Part of the reasoning was it has been said that the CN buildings suffer from "sick building syndrome" and are just too old.

But on the other hand, those buildings just got a million dollar+ refit to their ventilation systems which was very recently finished. It wouldn't make sense to put that kind of money into it, and then tear it all down. - also Crombie is actively trying to lease space in those buildings, why lease out something that will just be demolished anyway.

(2) The other rumor being that they are just waiting on making a deal with HBC to end their lease, and the mall will be shut down and demolished, and used for the stadium grounds. Issue there being that HBC has a long term commitment to maintain the Bay in that location for a significant period of time, and it would be in violation of its obligations if it gave it up. The flip side is that Crombie has to maintain their end of the lease, or they get nailed themselves.

So i guess the issue becomes it is a matter they have to agree to relocate The Bay to a new location, or pay out to settle and shut it down entirely. Crombie owns a number of other properties, and there is enough land around, im sure the Bay could be accommodated. (besides, after working there a number of years ago -- 2001 ish, the current location really is not in great shape. The Bay would be better off getting out of it sooner than later)

---

On another note... whats the old Tim's property being converted to? they just revised the front facia, and look to be putting some work into it... I heard it could be a Starbucks, but the colors don't match.. maybe Second Cup - or something else entirely? - I keep hearing murmurs about Starbuck's interest in going downtown somewhere.. (the old Deja Vu location being one idea, as well as the old Tim's at 1113? main) but no fixed idea on location.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by mikeohara

Rumours include:

(1) Highfield Square & CN towers to be consumed for new Coliseum replacement/convention center
(2) Just the Mall would be consumed for above mentioned reason

This has been speculated upon in this forum for some time. Highfield Square is one of the two favoured sites for a downtown arena.

I tend to agree with you, I don't think the terminal office complex will be sacrificed. I could see it being renovated as part of an overall site redevelopment. The possibility of including a convention centre as part of the redevelopment is intriguing. This could also support the inclusion of a new hotel as well. One of the posters on this forum has already suggested that one of the terminal complex buildings could be refurbished as a hotel.

Originally Posted by mikeohara

On another note... whats the old Tim's property being converted to? they just revised the front facia, and look to be putting some work into it... I heard it could be a Starbucks, but the colors don't match.. maybe Second Cup - or something else entirely? - I keep hearing murmurs about Starbuck's interest in going downtown somewhere.. (the old Deja Vu location being one idea, as well as the old Tim's at 1113? main) but no fixed idea on location.

I am surprised that there isn't yet a downtown Starbucks in Moncton. Most other cities in the region already have at least one outlet in the downtown core.

I too have noticed the renovations ongoing at the old Timmies across from Highfield but I would be surprised if Starbucks moves in here. This location would seem to be too inconvenient to the core of Main Street. I imagine Starbucks would want to be within a couple of blocks of the Blue Cross/Assomption district.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I too have noticed the renovations ongoing at the old Timmies across from Highfield but I would be surprised if Starbucks moves in here. This location would seem to be too inconvenient to the core of Main Street. I imagine Starbucks would want to be within a couple of blocks of the Blue Cross/Assomption district.

Starbucks have a way of getting new locations as near to Tim's locations as possible. The odds of them moving into a former Tim's location, however, is probably pretty slim.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

Starbucks have a way of getting new locations as near to Tim's locations as possible. The odds of them moving into a former Tim's location, however, is probably pretty slim.

Starbucks just moved into a former Tim's location in downtown Halifax, so it is possible.

[riverviewer]

Bad news for the old Sobey's location in Riverview. Crombie REIT has a sign up showing the location is up for lease. I guess any tenant that was rumoured to be moving in isn't.

[MonctonRad]

Preview of EA Sports NHL 2011.

• Video Link

There's something familiar about the rink and the teams used in the opening sequence.

[DieppeGuy99]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Preview of EA Sports NHL 2011.

• Video Link

There's something familiar about the rink and the teams used in the opening sequence.

Commentary says Moncton, but look carefully on the screen and it lists Dieppe as the location.

[Taeolas]

They also mispronounce Moncton but it is neat none the less.

Couldn't they have gotten the QHL logo for the intro though? They had the NHL and WHL logos between the respective teams.

[JasonL-Moncton]

Originally Posted by sdm

Starbucks just moved into a former Tim's location in downtown Halifax, so it is possible.

The old Tim's downtown by Highfield Square is still owned by the local Tim's franchisee...they are just renovating it to lease it to some other business. I highly doubt that would be a competitor.

JL

PS> I still say they should make the old CN building a 'hotel' next to the new arena.

[David_99]

Originally Posted by DieppeGuy99

Commentary says Moncton, but look carefully on the screen and it lists Dieppe as the location.

Does the Aqua Centre double as a rink in the winter!?

[drewber]

Originally Posted by JasonL-Moncton

The old Tim's downtown by Highfield Square is still owned by the local Tim's franchisee...they are just renovating it to lease it to some other business. I highly doubt that would be a competitor.

JL

PS> I still say they should make the old CN building a 'hotel' next to the new arena.

Anyone interested in how it looks as of monday i took a pic.

[Sony500]

With rumours going around saying that the new arena will be at Highfield Sq. location, If I were Tims, I would be reopening.

[Taeolas]

Could be a short term lease perhaps, so they make money (rent) while the construction is going on, and when it becomes a good Tims location again, they'll boot the tenant and reopen it as a Tims?

[theshark]

If they are holding on to this location and renovating it, they must know something we don't