HALIFAX - The CBC and YMCA buildings occupy a prominent corner in Halifax - a stone's throw from the bustling Spring Garden Road, the Citadel and Public Gardens. In recent years, its neighbours have undergone extensive changes, including the addition of the Martello atop Park Lane Mall and the construction of the Paramount Apartments, directly across from the Public Gardens. And while much of the block has “grown-up”, the CBC building and the adjacent YMCA have sat comfortably, tucked away between civic landmarks, new residential towers and a busy retail strip. But now, the CBC and YMCA are ready and willing to work together to exploit the potential of the strategic place that they hold in the city. View in Google Streetview [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="568" caption="Top: Current view of CBC building from Bell Road. Bottom: Conceptual rendering of proposed development."][/caption] View in Google Streetview [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="568" caption="Top: Current view from South Park Street. Bottom: Proposed development."][/caption] In December 2010, the YMCA and CBC Radio-Canada submitted a Plan Amendment Application to HRM Planning Services to allow for the joint development of their properties. The current application seeks site specific amendments to the Regional Municipal Planning Strategy, the Halifax Municipal Planning Strategy, the Downtown Halifax Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy and the Downtown Halifax Land Use By-Law. Current regulations limit post-bonus building height to 23 metres (CBC) and 49 metres (YMCA); the application seeks to increase the height limit only for the CBC site in order to match current height limits in place for the YMCA parcel.

HALIFAX - On May 3, 2010, The Coasts' Tim Bousquet wrote an article titled Proposed YMCA/CBC development will break HRM By Design height limits which covered the YMCA/CBC buildings deconstruction on South Park and Sackville Streets and the Y's controversial future development in the same location. Nearly a year later, HRM By Design is hosting a public information session at City Hall in Halifax, NS tonight, Thursday, April 21st at 7pm. As reported on the New Halifax YMCA website, the Public Information Session is a chance for the public to get a ...

HALIFAX - HRM is seeking feedback on a set of proposed changes to the downtown street network. The changes, which were included in the recommendations of HRM by Design, are aimed at increasing available non-traffic street usage (on-street parking, bike lanes, sidewalk cafés), and improving overall consistency of traffic flow in the downtown core. The Open House session will be held in a come-and-go format. Come and share your opinions on how to improve our downtown; HRM would appreciate your input. For more information, visit ...

HALIFAX - Last week HRM Council appeared to approve two high-rise developments on Barrington Street – a 17 storey building on the site of the Roy Building and a 20 storey tower to be built on top of the Discovery Centre. Sound familiar? Confusingly, Council seems to have approved the same two towers in April of 2009. Adding to the confusion, both towers are within the Barrington Street Heritage Conservation District, and appear to violate the new downtown plan approved through HRMbyDesign. What exactly is happening with these two proposals? First, neither project has been granted final approval. Although the Roy Centre project was announced in the summer of 2008, and the Discovery Centre proposal submitted in February 2009, Council has to date only decided what rules the projects will be reviewed under. In March 2009 Council voted to review these projects under the existing Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) instead of the new downtown plan, which was still being developed through HRMbyDesign. Both proposals are taller than the height limits for Barrington Street that were ultimately set by HRMbyDesign. Consequently, Council felt it would be unfair to review (and ultimately reject) these developments based on the HRMbyDesign standards, which had not been finalized when the tower applications were submitted to the Municipality. The Council vote, which happened last week, was needed to amend the Heritage By-law — a step that was missed in 2009.

Squat rows of abandoned apartments circle an empty children's playground, buried by snow. These buildings have seen better days. Their dull brown, yellow, grey and dishwater green paint is fading. Most windows are shattered or boarded up, while metal fencing and a dozen 'No Trespassing' signs surround them. If you look into the horizon, you can see candy cane striped smoke stacks belching smoke and the outline of the A. Murray MacKay Bridge. Shannon Park, a dilapidated former military barracks, is one of the first things people ...

HALIFAX - Looking for a lunch date this Tuesday? Come chat with HRM's urban design head honcho Andy Fillmore. This Dalhousie-Harvard educated architect-come-planner-come-urban designer is the manager of the influential HRMbyDesign Downtown Plan (discussed in detail in a Spacing Atlantic four-part series) and also happens to be the lead urban design advisor on both the proposed New Central Library project and World Trade and Convention Centre site. Currently, Andy is set to take a leading role in creating a masterplan to redesign the infamous Cogswell Interchange. Now is as good a ...

Over the last month, Spacing Atlantic has engaged in an in-depth analysis of HRMbyDesign, the ambitious plan set fourth by the municipal government to transform the region over the next 25 years. This is the final segment in a series of weekly installments that has explored the plan's various nooks and crannies, carving out a unique and fresh perspective on the HRMbyDesign process. ________________________________________________________________________ HALIFAX - Aside from making our downtown more sustainable, economically vibrant and heritage-friendly, HRMbyDesign also intends to change the way we move. The Downtown Halifax Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy (Downtown Plan) section on transportation addresses issues such as the reorganization of downtown streets, active transportation, public transit, freight movement and parking. One of the main parts of this section is the Street Network Plan. The Street Network Plan designates primary uses for downtown streets with the goal of streamlining traffic . Under the plan, Lower Water, Hollis, Prince, Sackville, Duke and Brunswick streets are designated as higher traffic flow streets. Barrington and Spring Garden are going to be taking on a greater role for public transit, while Bedford Row, Granville, Argyle, and Market — amoung others — will take on greater roles for pedestrian and bike traffic. Motor vehicle traffic on streets that are to be primarily used for biking and walking will be discouraged by allowing only one direction of motor traffic. I like this element of the Downtown Plan. It provides a good foundation on which other improvements to downtown transportation can be made. When HRM talks about active transportation, they mean walking and biking. We took a brief look at pedestrian related improvements in the piece on HRMbyDesign and sustainability, so let’s take some time to look at cycling.

For the next month, Spacing Atlantic will engage in an in-depth analysis of HRMbyDesign, the ambitious plan set fourth by the municipal government to transform the region over the next 25 years. This series of weekly installments will move through the plan's various nooks and crannies, and carve out a unique and fresh perspective on the HRMbyDesign process. ________________________________________________________________________ HALIFAX - The language of the Downtown Halifax Secondary Regional Planning Strategy (Downtown Plan) places great emphasis on environmental sustainability. The plan views sustainability as “[a] fundamental underpinning of the design approach to the Regional Center and downtown Halifax.” In spite of the high value that HRM places on sustainability, the Downtown Plan in its current form falls flat on this particular issue in a few ways. One way that HRMbyDesign says the downtown can move towards greater sustainability is by improving public infrastructure in ways that encourage walking, cycling and use of public transit. I'll be focusing on the cycling and pubic transit implications of HRMbyDesign in next week's installment, so for now let’s hone in on the pedestrian elements of the plan.