Halifax Convention Centre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Halifax Convention Centre |
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Nova Centre under construction in 2016
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| Location | Argyle Street Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Operator | Events East Group |
| Opened | 2017 |
| Enclosed space | |
| • Total space | 120,000 sq ft (11,000 m2) |
| • Exhibit hall floor | 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m2) |
| • Breakout/meeting | 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) |
| • Ballroom | 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) |
The Halifax Convention Centre is the main conference centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It opened on December 15, 2017 in Downtown Halifax, replacing the older World Trade and Convention Centre.
The Halifax Convention Centre is part of the $500-million Nova Centre project. With 1 million square feet (93,000 m2) of mixed-use space, Nova Centre is the largest integrated development project undertaken in Nova Scotia’s history.
Contents
History
Background
Trade Centre Limited (TCL), the provincial Crown corporation that operated the World Trade and Convention Centre, advocated replacing the facility to accommodate demand for larger scale conventions, citing the lack of a dedicated exhibition room and the larger size of comparable facilities elsewhere in the country. In 2008, Trade Centre Limited and the provincial Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal issued an expression of interest for an expanded facility. This process identified a successful proponent, Rank Inc., a private developer. It was announced that Rank Inc. would build the overall development, called Nova Centre, in which the convention centre would be located.
In August 2011, the federal government announced it would invest $51 million toward eligible construction costs for the new convention centre. The remaining funding was shared by the Province of Nova Scotia and the Halifax Regional Municipality, with each contributing $56.4 million. With funds in place for the convention centre portion of the project, the developer, Rank Inc., continued to work on preliminary designs and securing tenants for the other aspects of the Nova Centre project. In July 2012, Rank Inc. CEO Joe Ramia officially announced his intention to proceed with the project, beginning with wide-ranging public consultation to help inform the look and feel, streetscape and public spaces for the Nova Centre. That same month Regional Council gave its final approval to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Province of Nova Scotia that outlines the construction, operational and financial agreements surrounding the new convention centre.
Auditor General Jacques Lapointe, in 2012, criticized the market study used to justify construction of the new convention centre. Without questioning the general merits of a new facility, he stated that "some industry realities were ignored" and provided new calculations which suggested that the economic spinoff could be significantly diminished if the expected utilization rate was lower than calculated. Trade Centre CEO Scott Ferguson responded by stating that he stood by the original projections.
The branding and name of the facility, Halifax Convention Centre, were announced in early 2014 by Ferguson, who praised the "simplicity" and marketing sense of the name and graphic identity.
Facility
The new convention centre comprises over 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) of meeting space, including a 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) ballroom, 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of multi-purpose convention space, and 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) of meeting space. It was constructed on a site comprising two city blocks bounded by Prince, Argyle, Sackville, and Market streets, bisected by Grafton Street which has been temporarily closed and destroyed to permit excavation and construction. One of the two blocks was previously the longstanding head office of The Chronicle Herald, who relocated to Armdale.
The convention centre is part of a larger development called Nova Centre, composed of the convention centre podium with office, residential, and hotel space above. The entire development has been stated to be about 1 million square feet (93,000 m2) in total.
Images for kids
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Convention centre under construction in 2015
