Vic Suites (Hollis & Morris) | 32 m | 10 fl | Complete

[Dmajackson]

spaustin is up talking now!

[Keith P.]

And from the sublime to the ridiculous... we now have Bev Miller blathering on.

[Aya_Akai]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

And from the sublime to the ridiculous... we now have Bev Miller blathering on.

That was AWFUL

[kph06]

Crane by the end of the year? I like that...

[Dmajackson]

I officially love Councillor Outhit;

I forget what a crane looks like downtown. There's one in Bedford and I think I seen a few in Vancouver but I haven't seen any downtown and I want to see some!

Massive Burn!

[Dmajackson]

Approved!

[Aya_Akai]

Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ

Approved!

Not a single Nay.... kinda wierd considering councillor watts said she was against it.

I gotta say, this has been one of the most mature council sessions I've seen...

They finally got it through their heads, they need to approve stuff on how it will benefit the area, not what people think it looks like!

I was surprised to hear that come out of a Halifax city councillors mouth, let alone 3 or 4. D'awwww our lil' council is growing up methinks.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by HaliStreaks

Not a single Nay.... kinda wierd considering councillor watts said she was against it.

I gotta say, this has been one of the most mature council sessions I've seen...

They finally got it through their heads, they need to approve stuff on how it will benefit the area, not what people think it looks like!

I was surprised to hear that come out of a Halifax city councillors mouth, let alone 3 or 4. D'awwww our lil' council is growing up methinks.

Yah it was kind of weird Watts didn't scream out NAY!

Uteck also said Sloane supported the proposal which means all 22 councillors supported it.

[spaustin]

Pretty good endorsement for the project. Almost everyone in the public spoke in favour, council's vote was unanimous (Watts?) and the heritage trust was even suggesting compromise in their opposition (smaller not no project). One interesting thing I learned, there is street fair planned for October on Morris Street in front of the building to close the place out. It sounds like a neat way for the neighbourhood and the many past residents to say goodbye to the old and hello to the new.

[Halifax Hillbilly]

Good project, glad to see it approved.

Part of me is gonna miss your old home though Mr. Austin. An interesting building.

[Keith P.]

For the record: Coun. Moonbat Watts voted against it.

[Jonovision]

Great news! I hope Louis doesn't waste anytime starting work. Although I have a feeling he will wait until his Greenvale Project is finished before he starts this one. I'm excited to see the red balconies!

[Barrington south]

great news for the area

[Dmajackson]

You're quite the popular man "Spaustin":

Council OKs 10-storey building
Bottled water axed at city hall
By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE City Hall Reporter
Wed. Sep 16 - 4:46 AM
After a prolonged ceasefire, the battle over building heights for proposed developments in downtown Halifax was resurrected Tuesday night — this time in relation to a planned 10-storey, mixed-use structure with red balconies.

But the urban planning skirmish, during a public hearing at city hall, was relatively brief. And in the end, council approved the $14-million residential-commercial project for the southwest corner of Hollis and Morris streets.

Speakers who supported the development told council it would help revitalize a rundown district. They also liked the red tinted glass planned for balconies protruding from the 86-unit rental building.

Halifax Regional Municipality’s heritage advisory committee recommended that council approve the project.

Those who spoke against it said it was too high, out of character for the neighbourhood and even just plain ugly.

Developer Louis Lawen said he hopes to break ground by the end of this year, but three old buildings on the property must be demolished first. He said if all goes well, construction should be finished by the spring of 2011.

With respect to the red balconies, which seemed to be a bit of a theme during part of the debate, Mr. Lawen told The Chronicle Herald his firm will probably try one as a test to see if the concept is viable.

Heritage advocates objected to the proposed new building, saying the setting has historical value because it is where one of the city’s founding fathers, Charles Morris, set up shop. But not one of the existing structures is a registered heritage site.

One speaker told the politicians he used to live in one of the old buildings set to be destroyed. He criticized the municipality for doing a lousy job of including tenants there in the public participation process.

Councillors agreed with the young man and asked city staff to try to make the process more inclusive.

[JET]

Lawen plans to include public art to honour the history of the area.
Can you say LIGHTHOUSE ! lol JET

[phrenic]

For once I'd like to see people forget about including art that references our history and instead install something completely abstract and futuristic that makes no sense, yet looks really cool.

[Takeo]

Originally Posted by JET

Lawen plans to include public art to honour the history of the area.
Can you say LIGHTHOUSE ! lol JET

The history of the area? Hmm. How about a stainless steel hooker?

[planarchy]

Originally Posted by Takeo

The history of the area? Hmm. How about a stainless steel hooker?

Yes. Fantastic suggestion. As long as people are obsessed with preserving the past, we should at least be honest about how we do it.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by Takeo

The history of the area? Hmm. How about a stainless steel hooker?

Lol I think that would be perfect for Windmill Road. For here though a hooker with a beer bottle in hand would be awesome

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by phrenic

For once I'd like to see people forget about including art that references our history and instead install something completely abstract and futuristic that makes no sense, yet looks really cool.

They did a great job of this at Dal decades ago. There is/was a cool abstract statue of a man outside of the S.U.B., and the "Eskimo carrying snow" (that's what we used to call it ) on the median in front of the Cohn.