Halifax Forum closure up for debate this week
Posted Jul 28, 2014 06:22:15 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s a moment of truth for the Halifax Forum.
City staff recommends closing the historic arena, which opened in 1927, and replacing it with a four-pad at nearby CFB Halifax Windsor Park at an estimated net cost of up to $18 million.
The Halifax Forum Community Association, a volunteer board that runs the Forum, has come up with its own plan to revitalize the aging structure by adding a new ice surface, multi-purpose facility and gymnasium. City staff pegs that proposal at $39 million.
Councillor Jennifer Watts tells Metro Halifax she supports the revitalization plan, which she says includes some “unique and really important” features a four-pad wouldn’t.
Community Association chair George Findlay tells Metro he’s confident council will vote to save the Forum, saying the four-pad proposal “doesn’t make sense.”
Regional council is set to debate the issue at its meeting this Tuesday.