Chronicle Herald, Frank Campbell , April 10

“…The Friends of the Common group doesn’t agree that it’s a win for the city or its citizens.

In a news release Wednesday, the group said it had 2,900 citizens sign a petition to the mayor and council objecting to any components of the Infirmary site going on the museum side of Summer Street and asked that council seek legislative protection.

“Approximately 25 per cent of the Halifax Common’s 240 acres is used for parking,” the group asserted. “The positive effects of green space on all aspects of health and the push by the city to densify population on the peninsula mean remaining green and open Common land must be protected against more parking and further development.”  KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) Halifax regional council has signed off on a revised provincial site plan for a new parkade that would be part of the redevelopment of the Halifax Infirmary property.

But Coun. Waye Mason (Halifax South-Downtown) says the decisive 17-0 vote at a special online council meeting Thursday does not mean the current plan can’t or won’t change.

“I want to note that this design is not final and we received a letter from at least one other constructor of a parking garage that has an alternative solution,” Mason said.

“I hope that the province, when they tender this, will be open to other solutions brought forward as long as they meet the requirements for space and come in under budget. There is potential for private-sector creativity that could lead to an even better solution.”

The solution, as developed in the province’s revised plan, does not require any changes to the alignment, width or configuration of Summer Street. The inpatient centre, learning centre, ambulatory-care and cancer-care centres will be combined in towers at the corner of Robie Street and Bell Road under the new plan for the Infirmary site.

The new central utility plant will be located with a 1,000-stall parking garage off Bell Road, approximately in the location of the former CBC building.

The original provincial plan would have had an 800-stall parking garage located south of the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History with an extension over Summer Street to the Infirmary site.

The province now intends to locate a 500-stall parking garage on the east side of Summer Street to accommodate parking needs during construction. The new eight-storey garage, taller but narrower than the original 800-stall conception, would sit on the north side of the museum, on the former small-surface staff parking lot that the province already owns.

The new parkade will be set back approximately six metres from Summer Street, which is more consistent with the setbacks found for other institutional buildings on the Halifax Common.

The new configuration includes an elevated pedway from the parkade, crossing over Summer Street to the hospital.

Jacques Dube, Halifax Regional Municipality’s chief administrative officer, said the new proposal is part of the “the largest health-care project ever undertaken in Nova Scotia’s history,” and the province wanted to get the initial phase of the project before council as quickly as possible.

“We’ve been working with the province for well over a year now on the larger-scale project and we have reached a tentative agreement,” Dube said.

He said the province originally wanted the heating plant and parkade on the north side of Summer Street, which was problematic for the municipality.

“This new proposal places the heating plant on the west side of Summer Street, while the parkade will be to the north of the museum, avoiding any impacts to the Bengal Lancers, which is a very important not-for-profit organization providing needed social services to residents, and the Wanderers Grounds, where we have the Halifax Wanderers soccer club playing,” Dube said. “The original proposal would have impacted both of those organizations.”

Dube said the new proposal protects green space at the corner of Summer Street and Bell Road and the pedway is far less of an imposition on the streetscape than to have part of a parking garage built over the street.

Dube said the rejigging took a lot of time and effort from provincial and municipal staff, with 10 revised options considered.

Mason captured the sentiment of most councillors who spoke on the issue in saying that the revised plan is a win for the city.

“It is not perfect but it is far better,” Mason said. “I don’t want anybody thinking that I’m saying that it’s a great design. There are issues with it.”

The Friends of the Common group doesn’t agree that it’s a win for the city or its citizens.

In a news release Wednesday, the group said it had 2,900 citizens sign a petition to the mayor and council objecting to any components of the Infirmary site going on the museum side of Summer Street and asked that council seek legislative protection.

“Approximately 25 per cent of the Halifax Common’s 240 acres is used for parking,” the group asserted. “The positive effects of green space on all aspects of health and the push by the city to densify population on the peninsula mean remaining green and open Common land must be protected against more parking and further development.”

Mason said some people have contacted him to argue that the hospital should not remain in the city centre.

“It’s a teaching hospital; you want it near the universities, within walking distance of all those other services,” Mason said. “It is the right place for it.”

Although the province is keen to get on with issuing a tender for the project revision, Mason said the public must have its say.

“There has been no public engagement on the changes to this hospital plan,” he said.

“We haven’t talked about landscaping, we haven’t talked about materials, we haven’t talked about a mitigation plan for the museum, we haven’t talked about what it’s going to feel like to walk down Bell or Summer … when you have a 14-storey building there where you used to have Queen Elizabeth High. I would encourage the province that this is just a first step and we need to come back to the public and we need to talk about what’s going to happen before we finalize this plan and put it out to tender.”

Coun. Richard Zurawski (Beechville-Clayton Park) wondered how much influence the municipality can exert on the project.

“What I’m hearing is that this isn’t a great deal, this is just the best that we could do and it’s better than the lousy deal that we were getting before,” Zurawski said. “My question is how much on the outside are we, how much can we influence what this looks like and what the final outcome will be despite the fact that it is sitting in our (downtown)?”

Dube said the municipality’s relationship with the province on the project is a strong one and he is confident that conversations and consultations will continue, resulting in a well-designed building.

Kelly Denty, director of planning for the municipality, said municipal land-use rules do not supersede the province.

“To be clear, the municipality does not have authority over the provincial government,” Denty said. “Every indication that we have is that there is an intent to do a high-quality, well-designed building.”

Mason said the parkade construction and design will be a test for the province as it moves forward with the redevelopment of both the Infirmary and the Victoria General sites.

“What we need to see from this first baby step is high-quality design,” Mason said. “It can’t be cheap, built-up concrete. It has to be something that respects the historic setting of the Common, the buildings around it, the design standards that have evolved over time around setbacks and brick and greenery.”