Welcome from the Coalition to Save the View
P3 Convention Centre Towers will Block the View
The enactment of HRMbyDesign in June of 2009 deleted policies that controlled heights of buildings in the vicinity of Citadel Hill. The view from the roadway on Citadel Hill to George's Island and the Halifax Harbour is no longer protected. The “Coalition to Save the View” from Citadel Hill formed in response to these shortcomings in this new HRM planning strategy.
Pending public funding from the provincial or federal government, under "HRMbyDesign" the city has already approved the construction of twin 18 and 14 storey towers smack dab in the middle of the view to George’s Island from the Hill. The proposed 150,000 square foot convention centre could be accommodated in a two-storey building on the 80,000 square foot building site.
Under the new HRMbyDesign planning strategy there is no opportunity for you as a citizen to voice opinions on this new development. As citizens of HRM, we oppose any construction that blocks the view from Citadel Hill. We recommend that HRMbyDesign include height restrictions that honour Halifax’s natural and heritage assets.
What we want:
SMART BUSINESS |
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION |
GREEN POLICIES |
No 18 storey Convention Centre!!!
Three Good Reasons Why
> Smart Business includes Heritage, Tourism and the Cultural Economy 
Halifax is truly an historic city. Its natural topography, a hill crowned by the Citadel sloping down to a magnificent harbour, is an outstanding feature of the downtown area. This visible connection to the water reveals the history of the world-famous fortress on Citadel Hill.
The 18 and 14 storey towers that are part of a proposed Convention Centre will block the last remaining view of the central harbour from the roadway in front of the Citadel, severing the historic visual link. Turner Drake and Partners, a prominent realty firm in Halifax, reports that “A key demand for all types of space in Downtown Halifax is its unique character which in turn is defined by the heritage buildings and their relationship with the harbour.”
The historic nature of downtown Halifax is a primary economic asset; it is an enormous tourist attraction and it is also as a place where many modern businesses want to locate because of the historic ambience and quality of life. It’s just not smart business to exchange cultural assets such as heritage buildings and beautiful views for commercial developments providing financial windfalls to a few developers.
The proposed Convention Centre towers fly in the face of current best practices in the world’s great historic cities like London, Paris, Jerusalem, Vienna, Charleston and Quebec City. These great cities are tightening design controls and blocking the erection of towers in their city centres. Shouldn’t Halifax, a great Canadian historic city, be doing the same?
The business case for a new convention centre must be made known to the public. Office space or hotel units associated with the Centre could be low-rise buildings erected on some of the more than one million square feet of vacant land in the downtown area. Government money should not benefit one developer over another by subsidizing development especially when these subsidies are providing financing leverage for construction of the high rise hotel and office towers. If this happens the province would be using our money to block our view.
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> Democracy Means Citizen Participation
In HRM, citizens have driven major civic decisions such as recycling and composting, banning cosmetic pesticides, and protecting the views from Citadel Hill and the Dartmouth Common.
Under the newly-approved HRMbyDesign a streamlined 60-day decision making process dictated by an un-elected Design Review Committee is a heavy-handed exclusion of citizen participation. Before, everyone used to be able to participate. Now, tenants, people who own property elsewhere in the municipality, people who work and walk downtown, as well as neighbourhood, environmental, and heritage organizations are being shut out.
Only the applicant for a project is allowed to appeal to the Utility and Review Board. This represents a dramatic shift of power, away from ordinary citizens and public-interest groups, to property owners, applicants, design professionals and municipal staff. Therefore, there is no venue for us to express our disapproval of the design of the proposed Convention Centre Towers.
Based on a public survey of pedestrians in downtown Halifax on May 31, 2009:
- 91% of the public are opposed to the two Convention Centre towers
- 73% of the public surveyed preferred to keep the existing view.
Even though the public does not want the towers, the public does not have a say in the process for determining if the buildings are built or if public money will be spent on the project. We are left with direct appeals to elected politicians to represent our true interests.
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> Sustainability Requires Green Policies
While the world is busy going green as a response to climate change, HRMbyDesign has no environmental safe guards. This city needs development that is guided by good environmental policies. In the case of a new Convention Centre there is no requirement for green energy use, energy conservation, or green space or parks. The building is out of context, blocks views, and creates wind and shadow effects. These issues do not get considered in some 'green' building codes.
Halifax will not be a participant in the new green-collar economy if there is not a single decision for sustainability that developers have to make. The Downtown Halifax Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy acknowledges, "a sustainable city is one that promotes sustainable building design to reduce resource and energy consumption" and where "development meets the principles of the triple bottom line: socially and culturally sustainable, economically sustainable and environmentally sustainable." Is this just talk? We need action on these strategies.
