HALIFAX – HRM’s proposed plans for the North Common [PDF] will be presented and discussed at an open house at City Hall tonight. The proposal includes an asphalt “Special Events Plaza,” a new building, clustered street-side kiosks and seating, wider pathways, and a redesign of the Centennial Fountain. The public is invited to view the proposed plan starting at 6:30, followed by a presentation and question period — a crucial opportunity to float concerns, clarifications, and suggestions.
In preparation for tonight’s event, community group Friends of the Halifax Common met last night to discuss some of their concerns and background information.
WHAT: Open house and presentation of HRM’s “Improvements to the North Common”
WHERE: Halifax City Hall
WHEN: Tonight, Jan 20th; viewing starting at 6:30; formal presentation at 7:30
CONTACT: Rudy Vodicka, HRM Real Property Planning, vodickr@halifax.ca
photo by Lauren Oostveen
6 comments
Watts fought hard to have this presentation include a question & answer period with the public. If you care about green space in this city, please come out & speak your mind.
If you can’t make it tonight, you can email your thoughts/concerns to clerks@halifax.ca. Address it to the mayor and members of council to ensure it gets read.
WATTS IS MY HOMEGIRL
I’ve heard that one plan to help “preserve” the commons when outdoor gigs come to town is paving over the ball-feild at the North Park and Cogswell intersection. What a scary prospect! It would only be a matter of time before people beg for it to be turned into a parking lot.
I tend to agree with Steve B, the commons has been whittled away at for many many years and there isnt much left. You had to use the crappiest picture of the commons after that country and western concert ruined the grass. The Common is beautiful part of the city – you are using biased imagery to make the case for change…and council thinks that paving is positive change and progress. Sad.
Funny Michael, I thought that the image of the muddy concert aftermath was more of an indication of what these big concerts do to our beloved green space, not a call for concrete…
We have seen what can happen when the city doesn’t consider our open spaces as an interconnected collection of spatial experiences. How can they direct development when they don’t have an understanding of how each gives character to the city as a larger whole? Citadel High, built on a piece of The Commons is the best example: someone at some point should have said that the building’s needs were too large for the site. One of the nicest parts of the walk into downtown from the Commons playground was on Bell Road; the Vocational School wasn’t a massive wall, hiding the base of the Citadel. That small mound of grass used to obscure some of the school front face is a sad substitute.