Building for Democracy

http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archives/2010/11/16/author-says-ns-legislature-should-be-world-heritage-site


We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us — Winston Churchill.

Wendel Clark Tribute #1

DeFrancosTraining.com - Documentary trailer!!

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/07/21/ravens-announcement-of-pr-interns-could-include-future-coach-commish/#comments

As Charlie Francis said, running takes place on the ground, sprinting takes place above it.

life is the shit that happens when you wait for magical moments that never happen

News

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1187706.html


City courts resurfacer


Thu. Jun 17 - 4:54 AM
Tennis court resurfacing, anyone?

Halifax Regional Municipality has been seeking quotes from qualified installers of acrylic surfaces for tennis courts.

The city wants to resurface courts near Inglis Street Elementary School and at St. Mary’s Boat Club, said a tender document on the HRM website.

There are six tennis courts at the two sites.

The job competition closed Wednesda

Million Dollar Dreamin

http://www.tradewindsrealty.com/cgi-bin/listings.cgi?key=5437h
http://www.tradewindsrealty.com/cgi-bin/listings.cgi?key=5442l#photos
http://www.tradewindsrealty.com/cgi-bin/listings.cgi?key=5430t#photos

Noel wants more

sums up my life right now






"What, you ask me if I'm happy? Listen: I've got eighty seven million pounds in the bank. I've got a Rolls Royce. I've got three stalkers. I'm about to go on the board at Manchester City. I'm part of the greatest band in the world. Am I happy with that? No, I'm not! I want more!"

2010 IDFA Natural Novice Classic.MOV

Graduated €™

Gone, gone, gone
That’s what it looks like from here
Gone, gone, gone
You’ve been packing your bags for a year
Watching your taillights fade, that’s all I ever do
Watching you complicate a love so true
Pretty soon I’ll be gone too
Gone, gone, gone
What’s the big idea?
Where’d we go from here?
My love, always gone
Always right, never wrong
Await the light, chase the dawn
Through the night, but the night’s so long
Gone, gone, gone
That’s your middle name
Every night’s the same
My love, count ‘em down
3, 2, 1, you’re back around
You close the door, you don’t make a sound
But 1, 2, 3 and you’re leaving town
In the middle of a lonely night
Got caught in the hallway light
For a minute you were getting close
I suspect I’ve seen a ghost
In the middle of a highway dream
You got caught in the headlight’s beam
Down the road with your tired eyes
Good old boys with your old goodbyes
Bye, bye
That’s your only tune
April, May and June
My love, you come and go
Seasons change and flowers grow
By and by, the highway glow
You roll fast but the night rolls slow
Slow, slow
Time is rolling on
Sing “Two Winters Long”
My love, where you been?
Around the bend and back again
You’re never wrong, you’re always right
But you look different in this light
Make this clear, you disappeared, left me here
Gone, gone, gone, never wrong, sing your song
“Two Winters Long”
Gone, gone, gone
Surely we’ll say this again
Gone, gone, gone
In the cold early morning rain
Singing someone else’s tune, that’s all you ever do
Light on your feet in this ro

Oasis - Be Here Now at G-Mex part 1

Hitler does Halifax

Aus

14 hours ahead of Halifax time


Rick says:
I've never been so down before in my entire life
Andrew says:
I could tell, her plus that test is just brutal man
Rick says:
haha, ya...I'm gonna miss her
my hands are literally shaking
I really loved her man, I gave her my everything
Andrew says:
yea yea you did.
a lot of life is about timing, which people sometimes have to learn the hard way
Rick says:
I know, it's tough.
Andrew says:
im glad to hear you are staying away from the booze, that is important
Rick says:
ya, now I just don't know what's next
Andrew says:
well for starters, we need to get you ready to write that test again
Rick says:
ya, I gotta start studying. I gotta become a man and step up
Andrew says:
when, dates for next test
Rick says:
you can write it at the first of every month
Andrew says:
well jesus ricky, get your balls in gear
it isnt easy being a man
being a man has to do with character
and hurt and pain has a lot to do with character
Rick says:
ya, I know bro, that's a great point
Andrew says:
you have to take that hurt and pain and transform it into motovation, an option for sucess\
Rick says:
your right.
Andrew says:
one day at a time, positivity, improving your body and mind, literatly, studying, eating right, postive outcomes, walk around with a scar on your heart, there is nothing worng with that, every man ever goes through this shit, and they know how fucking hard it is
but that is why people have respect for others, well some at least, be cause there are a special few who actually walk around with those scars yet they do not let them define them
put in your 9 to 5, make some money, go feel good about going to church, do some pushups, read and study, do not stagnate, do not stand still, push your way through it
but also realize that you are not alone, you are not the only one who has shed tears over a girl, or the relationship or the effort involved or the time, money, mental energy it takes to make something work after so much failure
Rick says:
you are absolutely right and you're a good friend
Andrew says:
you have friends, use them, you have a brain, use it, you have big arms, and by god use them as well
Rick says:
ok, I needed that Big Hayes, alright. Thank you, I will talk to you later.
Your my boy, and I'll also be there for you
Andrew says:
night night





Holdeez says:
haha sick pic
hahaha
Andrew says:
ahhaha thanks
Holdeez says:
google?
Andrew says:
personal collection lets say
Holdeez says:
got ya
hows ur paper coming
Andrew says:
well dont I have a story for you
Holdeez says:
SICKKKKK\
i got randle el back
Andrew says:
before I begin, remember a little while ago when you went to see warner, and she mentioned me... do you remember if and what she said about me
oh who cares, get on with my question
Holdeez says:
uhh no not really why...we just said u were a funny guy
Andrew says:
yea well today she basically told me that she hated me, that I was immature, rude, embarassing to myself and unprofessional
Holdeez says:
what howwww?
Andrew says:
well I told you I emailed her, she sent one back saying come see her after our class today
so I go to her and we start walking and she literatly starts ripping into me
Holdeez says:
so what did she say
Andrew says:
her exact words were. "if you ever have something to say to me, say it to my face" and that I embarass myself in class with my actions
Holdeez says:
not in our class?
Andrew says:
she was refering to our class I do believe
cause in the other one I am by myself and just sit there doing nothing
Holdeez says:
so how do u embarrass urself in our class?
Andrew says:
dude I know ill get to that
and she actually said this, that I was unprofesional for an adult to refer to her as mrs. warner in the email I wrote her, her exact words were. I dont care if you use my first name but to not refer to me as professor or Dr. is insulting, you wouldnt do that with any male professors, call them Mr.
I was fucking stunned, like my jaw was droped, I was almost smiling in her face I couldnt believe it
Holdeez says:
oh wow
what did u say
to all of that
Andrew says:
well we were walking so we were both facing straight so I barly looked at her. I didnt really say anything I just let her go on and on. and then she said I realize that you are going through a tough time (what I put in my email) so get your work into me sooner than later because nothing good comes of pushing it back. so I thanked her and turned around
Holdeez says:
fuck...thats weird....that seems kind of out of character?
Andrew says:
it was so fucked up man, I couldnt believe it, I thought she was joking. I went to my next class and analyzied all of it, and the way she would see me in class
I came to the conclusion that at worst she just didnt like me because I dont fully participate in class, and at best she is just a over senstive bitch who has issues
"there hasnt been a Mrs.Warner since my grandmother died" she actually said that to me
Holdeez says:
i barely participate
Andrew says:
dude I couldnt/cant believe it
am I reall ythat bad in her class
??
Holdeez says:
i wouldnt say so...u just sit there with ur laptop...she cant see what ur doing
its not like were talking all class either
Andrew says:
I know, at worst im being a bad student, but I take part, sit there, you know normal stuff
Holdeez says:
yeah nothing to unusual for a student
Andrew says:
yea... thats what I fucking thought
like she was pissed that I called her Mrs. Warner, you could hear it in her voice
Holdeez says:
hmmm
Andrew says:
I think she thinks that whenever me and you joke around, which is usually before or after class, that I am some how making fun of her, she mentioned that I do so when she turns her back, and that it is embarassing for me to act likt aht infront of my peers
Holdeez says:
yeah i guess she didnt like the mrs.
Andrew says:
what in the fuck is she talking about
I just ffd you the email I sent her
Holdeez says:
yah i just read it
must have been the mrs
that got her goat
Andrew says:
then fuck that fucking bitch, who the fuck is she to be so fucking uptight that she is to speak to someone like that, I hope that fucking cunt dies, and her kids too
Holdeez says:
hahaha....man, i thought u liked her
Andrew says:
I did like her mark, and still do to a point I think she is terribly nice, not the most effective teacher ever but nice, which is more than you can ask for from any teacher
Holdeez says:
yeah
Andrew says:
but to completey exadurate things, to the point where she is attacking me, I honestly hope she has a horrible life, and im serious,
Holdeez says:
file a complaint
if u feel that strongly
Andrew says:
I do but I for starters have no proof, plus who cant file a complaint about that and who the hell would you go to
her fucking husband is the head of the history department
Holdeez says:
i have no clue
really
thats gay
i thought sewell was
Andrew says:
you didnt know that
wait whos her husband
Holdeez says:
stretton
Andrew says:
oh your right, stretton is the guy you talk to for masters, still though
Holdeez says:
ohh ok..i dont know him
Andrew says:
man I am really rattlled about her, like I really want./wanted to like her
I thought my email to her was, professional, kind..
Holdeez says:
yeah
yeah....the Mrs. though
profs hate that shit
especially ones with doctorates
Andrew says:
but she said I could refer to her by her first name...
like what in the fuck is wrong with people, fucking self ridgous cunt
Holdeez says:
hahaha
man you seem pretty rattled
write her an apology....or atleast something to clear the air and try and disprove her claims of immaturity
Andrew says:
I am man, like how dare she attack me like that, she isnt even that good of a teacher for christ sakes, and if she somehow came up with all of this bullshit in her mind about how I am fucking around in class then clearly she is a stupid fuck as well because she is just pulling that shit out of no where
Holdeez says:
well her being good or bad isnt relevant.....just stick to the facts...u dont need to attack her...just try and keep your reputation untarnished hayes
just be like, dr. warner....i didnt mean to call you mrs. it was an accident
and just be like im sorry u get the idea that im screwing around in class
Andrew says:
yea i am probably going to tomorrow, i am going to play out class and she how she acts, I am going to play my cards right, dont you worry about me
do me a favour and tomorrow in class lets act as if we never had this conversation, just normal casual, because she will expect that we talked about it and perhaps change the way she acts around us
Holdeez says:
yeah sure
if for some crazy reason she asked if i spoke to u or something, then ill just say we didnt talk......clearly hypothetical.....she wouldnt but lets say if it happened i would just say absolutely not
Andrew says:
yes, perfect she didnt even talk tonight
Holdeez says:
what do u mean she didnt talk tonight
?
Andrew says:
we
sorrt
Holdeez says:
ohh ok
cool
Andrew says:
me and you did not even talk tonight
Holdeez says:
right on
are u emailing her now?
Andrew says:
no
jesus no
im going to wait till after calss tomorrow to see if she reacts any diff after her rant today, ill take it from there
Holdeez says:
alright
Andrew says:
due I knew that bitch hated me, I pruposvly go out of my way to say thank you to her, in her face when she hands ou thtose stupid fucking useless sheets in class and she always, every time ignores me
Holdeez says:
honestly outside of the Mrs. warner i cant see why she would be mad
Andrew says:
I have no fucking idea, I think she took that as me taking a shot at her, possibly because she is a woman
no idea
Holdeez says:
feminist?
Andrew says:
very possibly, she is womens history, dresses like a man, she takes the bus, I doubt she even has sex with her husband,
Holdeez says:
haha nasty and irrelevant
wasnt she nice when we were like circled up in class talking about siblings....seemed to value your input
Andrew says:
I know man, jesus fucking christ, anyway i have had a hell of a day with that, and alex leaving, I need to get some sleep
goodnightsee you tomorrow

Beep

http://beepjuice.blogspot.com/

Historic building in central Halifax getting makeover

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1170277.html



THE people behind an intriguing renovation of a landmark building at the intersection of Windsor and Almon streets in Halifax are about to take the wraps off a labour of love that began more than six months ago.

A protective enclosure that went up to allow a painstaking reconstruction of the two-storey building at 2810 Windsor St. to continue during winter months is expected to be taken off any day now.

"It’s understandable that many people in the neighbourhood are curious about how the renovation has turned out. The old building has been a landmark for the neighbourhood and for the entire city for decades," Louis Wolfson, president of Peppermint Properties, said Tuesday.

The building is across the street from the parking lot for the Halifax Forum and opposite the Brooklyn Warehouse restaurant. It was built in the 1930s and originally housed a Dominion grocery store and adjacent pharmacy.

fuck the Oakland A's, they suck donkey dick

Africville

“On behalf of the Halifax Regional Municipality, I apologize to the former Africville residents and their descendants for what they have endured for almost 50 years, ever since the loss of their community that had stood on the shores of Bedford Basin for more than 150 years.
You lost your houses, your church, all of the places where you gathered with family and friends to mark the milestones of your lives.

For all that, we apologize.

We apologize to the community elders, including those who did not live to see this day, for the pain and loss of dignity you experienced.

We apologize to the generations who followed, for the deep wounds you have inherited and the way your lives were disrupted by the disappearance of your community.

We apologize for the heartache experienced at the loss of the Seaview United Baptist Church, the spiritual heart of the community, removed in the middle of the night. We acknowledge the tremendous importance the church had, both for the congregation and the community as a whole.

We realize words cannot undo what has been done, but we are profoundly sorry and apologize to all the former residents and their descendants.

The repercussions of what happened in Africville linger to this day. They haunt us in the form of lost opportunities for young people who were never nurtured in the rich traditions, culture and heritage of Africville.

They play out in lingering feelings of hurt and distrust, emotions that this municipality continues to work hard with the African Nova Scotian community to overcome.

For all the distressing consequences, we apologize.

Our history cannot be rewritten but, thankfully, the future is a blank page and, starting today, we hold the pen with which we can write a shared tomorrow.

It is in that spirit of respect and reconciliation that we ask your forgiveness.”

His Worship the Mayor Peter Kelly on behalf of the people of Halifax, February 24, 2010.

Canada’s last WWI vet dies

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1168294.html

OTTAWA — He was an unlikely and reluctant figurehead for a generation of heroes, a self-described "tin soldier" whose teenaged zeal for combat conspired to keep him out of the very war that would one day cast him as its sole Canadian survivor.

John Babcock was destined to play a starring role in the First World War. It just came nearly a century later than he might have expected.

Babcock, the last known veteran of Canada’s First World War army, died Thursday at the age of 109.

RELATED
» N.S. soldier to get posthumous medal

He went in search of military glory at 16, when he tried to sneak his way on to the front lines in France. His ruse was discovered, however, and he never made it to the battlefield.

"I wanted to go to France because I was just a tin soldier," Babcock said in an interview with The Canadian Press in July 2007 at his home in Spokane, Wash.

He was born July 23, 1900 on a farm in Ontario and emigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s.

"I volunteered (for the front lines), but they found out I was underage. If the war had lasted another year I would have fought."

Still, more than 80 years of hindsight had helped to temper that young man’s regret over not having faced enemy fire in the trenches of France — unlike many of his friends, who never returned.

"I might have got killed," he said matter-of-factly.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a statement Thursday announcing Babcock’s death, said: "As a nation, we honour his service and mourn his passing."

"The passing of Mr. Babcock marks the end of an era. His family mourns the passing of a great man. Canada mourns the passing of the generation that asserted our independence on the world stage and established our international reputation as an unwavering champion of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law."

Ten per cent of the roughly 600,000 Canadians who enlisted to fight in the First World War died on the battlefields of Europe — 170,000 more were wounded.

The war would ultimately claim 15 million civilian and military lives on both sides of the conflict.

"(Babcock) was both an individual and a symbol," said Rudyard Griffiths, of the Historica-Dominion Institute, an organization dedicated to promoting Canadian history. "We should honour his contribution to Canada."

In the days to come, there will no doubt be tributes and ceremonies to mark Babcock’s passing. It’s hard to say how he would react to the fanfare. Because he never saw action in the war, he was always a little uncomfortable being known as the last surviving First World War veteran.

"I really didn’t accomplish very much," Babcock said. "I went there and I did what the people above told me to do."

He said he had heard rumours about the government holding a state funeral for him, but wasn’t sure that’s an honour he deserves.

"I think it should be for the fellows who spent time in the front lines and were actually in the fighting."

Babcock wanted badly to be right there with them. "I wasn’t smart enough to be scared," he explained.

"While he didn’t serve, he was emblematic of that generation and of a certain kind of fiestiness," said Griffiths. "I know he felt quite proud of the Canadian period of his life."

Duncan Graham, a Korean War veteran whose father served in the First World War, said Babcock was the last living member of a generation that he and other veterans looked up to.

"I’ve got great respect for them. The war they fought was completely different from the war I fought, where we had the luxury of tanks and armoured vehicles," he said. "What they went through during the war in the trenches . . . we didn’t have to see what they had to see."

As an underage volunteer, Babcock was stuck digging ditches and doing endless military drills rather than fighting enemy soldiers. But he said he had vivid memories of the war, and the day an army sergeant inspired him to enlist.

"He came and told us about the charge of the light brigade," he said, referring to the recklessly brave British cavalry attack of the Crimean War, immortalized in a famous poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. "I was really impressed by that."

Frustrated that he had been relegated to loading freight onto army trucks in Halifax, Babcock lied about his age when he answered the call for volunteers to join a "peacetime regiment."

"When they asked me how old I was, I said 18. Well, when we got to England you had to be 19 to go to France," recalled Babcock.

"I was waiting to be 19 and my service record came through, and they found out I was 16, so they put me in the young soldiers’ battalion."

Babcock joined 1,300 other underaged soldiers and was drilled eight hours a day, always with an eye on reaching the front. By October 1918, the then 18-year-old Babcock was awaiting training that would send him to the battlefields of France.

That same month, some Canadian soldiers were kicked out of a dance hall in Wales by British Army veterans. Babcock and other members of his battalion decided "to go up there and clean them."

The ensuing brawl, in which one Canadian soldier was bayoneted in the thigh by a British cadet, saw Babcock handed 14 days of house arrest. Before those two weeks were up, the Armistice had been signed and he was on his way home.

Babcock has said that he worried that Canadians today, children especially, aren’t learning enough about the First World War.

"They don’t know a lot about it. People are always thinking about what they’re doing right now," he said, adding that Canadians should take the time to learn from veterans of the World Wars while they still can.

Griffiths shares that concern. Without "living reminders" like Babcock around anymore, he said, he worries that the history of the First World War will fade into obscurity, much like the War of 1812 has.

"The duty not to forget now falls on a generation who has never known war, who’s been separated from the history of the Great War by a period of going on 90 years. I think there is a danger (that people will forget)," he said.

Houchang Hassan-Yari, a professor of international relations at the Royal Military College, said that Canadians need to know about the Great War to understand how the country was born.

"Babcock’s generation was important because they witnessed a transition for Canada from a member of the British Dominion to an independent state," he said, explaining that Canada’s new-found military presence on the international stage helped the country find its own identity.

Babcock himself, however, emigrated to the United States in the 1920s and served a brief stint in the U.S. military.

"When he came back to Canada he really didn’t have a home to come back to; his father was killed when he was six years old," said his wife.

"He had heard that in the United States the (military) was going to train people in a trade, so he and a couple of other buddies decided to come."

Babcock met his first wife, Elsie, while working as an oil burner service man in San Francisco. The couple moved to Spokane in 1932, raised a son and a daughter, and spent every weekend golfing.

Babcock married his second wife, Dorothy, after Elsie died in the late 1970s.

In September 2006, at the age of 106, he managed to get out for a game of golf. While he lacked the balance to putt, he was still able to drive.

When asked what lessons this generation should take from the First World War, Babcock had a simple reply.

"I think it would be nice if all the different people in the world could get along together so we weren’t having wars. I don’t suppose that’ll ever happen, though."

‘I volunteered (for the front lines), but they found out I was underage. If the war had lasted another year I would have fought..’

JOHN BABCOCK

Jump off the Macdonald Bridge!

http://www.easterseals.ns.ca/events/zip-zone/


Easter Seals Nova Scotia’s Zip Zone is an extreme outdoor adventure where participants climb the MacDonald bridge’s Dartmouth tower (337.69 feet above the water) then rappel, zipping down to the pedestrian sidewalk on the bridge deck. Besides being a fun outdoor adventure it offers the added benefits of experiential learning for groups and makes participating in the Zip Zone a great activity for team building.
Each rappeller must raise a minimum of $2500 in pledges that funds Easter Seals Nova Scotia programs for Nova Scotian children and adults with physical disabilities – that include camp experiences, job skills training, and providing mobility equipment. All proceeds go directly to these programs.

Halifax bars considering blacklist of troublemakers

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/02/11/ns-bar-disturbance.html?ref=rss


Getting kicked out of one bar in downtown Halifax might soon be enough to get patrons barred from all drinking establishments in the city.

Gordon Stewart, executive director of the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia, said he is hoping to get 15 to 20 bars in Halifax to sign up for the pilot program, which would see people who cause a disturbance at one bar be banned from all participating establishments, possibly for life.

"Well, currently, the thinking is life. So, there are some consequences to this," Stewart said Thursday.

There are about 50 bars in downtown Halifax.



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/02/11/ns-bar-disturbance.html?ref=rss#ixzz0fJx5JKaj

Tribunal rules obese woman should get better parking spot

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100211/mtl_obese_parking100211/20100211/?hub=MontrealHome

MONTREAL — A morbidly obese Quebec woman with numerous health problems has won her legal fight for a better parking spot.

Not only has Marise Myrand won that parking upgrade outside her condominium, but her condo association has been slapped with a $10,000 penalty for refusing her request.

The move came in a precedent-setting ruling distributed Wednesday by a tribunal of the Quebec Human Rights Commission.

The 57-year-old resident of Ste-Marie, Que., weighs 389 lbs., suffers from diabetes, needs a wheelchair, and gets help breathing from an oxygen tank.

The CFL comes to Moncton

http://tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=308561

The Canadian Football League is heading East in 2010.

This year's CFL regular season schedule will be released on Monday, but according to various reports the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos will meet in the CFL's first regular season game in Atlantic Canada.

The stadium at the Université de Moncton will play host to the game which will take place on September 26 in Moncton, New Brunswick and officially be known as Touchdown Atlantic.

The last Touchdown Atlantic was held in 2005, when the Argos took on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a pre-season tilt at Huskies Stadium in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The league planned to return to Atlantic Canada the following year but the game was canceled after the Ottawa Renegades franchise was suspended indefinitely.

Edmonton swept the season series against Toronto during the 2009 campaign, winning 22-19 and 36-10 in Week 16 and Week 18, respectively.

Ali

Possibly the greatest video on youtube

USB jewelry

http://www.toniawelter.de/usbjewellery.html

Bringing people back downtown, by design

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1162774.html


HRM strategy involves revitalizing peninsular Halifax while maintaining the 260-year-old city’s historic character
By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Sun. Jan 17 - 4:45 AM

Andy Fillmore, HRM's urban design project manager.



The Historic Properties Waterside Centre is shown in this 2008 artist’s rendering.



PLANNED AND PROPOSED downtown developments will bring Halifax into the 21st century while retaining the city’s historic character, says the municipality’s urban design project manager.

"We’re looking at downtown as the next suburb," Andy Fillmore said Tuesday in an interview.

Mr. Fillmore led the Halifax by Design process, which streamlined development applications in Halifax Regional Municipality and established a precinct mechanism to manage downtown projects.

He said developments on the books or in the works will bring people back to the downtown to work, live and play.

"If you accept the premise, as I do and as (municipal) council did, that there aren’t enough people living and working downtown to make it viable, I’ve got to say this is fantastic," Mr. Fillmore said.

He said the population of peninsular Halifax shrank by 34 per cent, from 92,511 to 60,628, between 1961 and 2006.

A number of developments underway or planned for downtown focus on Barrington Street, which recently was designated a heritage precinct under Halifax by Design.

The designation offers building owners in the area matching financial incentives of up to $100,000 and tax breaks of 15 per cent for expenditures above $100,000 to maintain the historic facades of their properties.

Developments on Barrington include: rebuilding the Roy Building and adding a tower above it; transforming the Sam the Record Man and adjacent Granite Brewery properties into retail and commercial space; turning the Green Lantern building into condominiums; converting the National Film Board building into apartments; renovating the former Revenue Canada building; adding an apartment or office tower to the Discovery Centre; expanding the TD Bank; and turning the Freemason’s building into offices.

Rob Landry, property manager for Starfish Properties, which owns the Roy, Sam and Granite Brewery properties, said in a recent interview that the Barrington Street heritage designation and associated incentives would be an "important consideration" for any property owner.

Other planned or projected downtown developments include: a convention centre on Argyle Street; a central library on Queen Street at Spring Garden Road; a condominium tower at the old Keith’s Brewery; the Twisted Sisters towers at Hollis and Sackville streets; expansion of Fenwick Tower and City Centre Atlantic; Armour Group’s Waterside Centre and Queen’s Landing projects; Dexel Developments’ residential-commercial project at Morris and Hollis streets; Centennial Properties’ waterfront hotel project; and ECL Properties’ 22-storey office tower at the end of Granville Mall.

While there are no set timelines for many of the projects, Mr. Fillmore said there is a market for downtown apartments and condominiums that aren’t high-end, while office developers are taking an "if they build, people will come" approach.

"I see a lot of the projects moving ahead," he said.

Mr. Fillmore suggested that the only office developer who may hesitate is Sobey-controlled ECL, which would likely need a 60 per cent occupancy guarantee before proceeding.

Halifax by Design, which includes non-negotiable downtown building height limits ranging from 16.5 metres to 64.5 metres to address harbour view planes from Citadel Hill, replaces an outdated planning strategy that didn’t capitalize on the city’s strengths, said Mr. Fillmore.

"The community vision is a city that balances heritage and dynamic change and growth."

He said increasing downtown population density is environmentally sound and saves on expensive suburban infrastructure costs.

Christine Macy, dean of the faculty of architecture at Dalhousie University, said Halifax by Design is similar to planning strategies used successfully in cities like Boston. "The model is tested."

Ms. Macy said building skyward while maintaining pedestrian friendly streetscapes is a sensible way to balance the community’s desire for livable space with business demands for large floor plans.

"Halifax is catching up with the last part of the 20th century," she said, calling the municipality’s old planning strategy "scattershot" and subject to political pressures.

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http://spacingatlantic.ca/2010/01/04/bestworst-of-bike-parking-in-halifax-and-dartmouth/