The forum, for many years having the largest seating capacity of any facility in town, has been the venue of choice for sports and entertainment spectacles in Halifax. It has hosted such acts as Reba McEntyre, Alabama and Kiss and, as Home Ice for the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, witnessed the exploits and antics of hockey heroes such as Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden, Guy Carbonneau, Larry Robinson and Yvonne Lambert, to name a few. It has a seating capacity of 4,600 plus for ice events and another 1,250 on the floor for non-ice events.
About as historic as Canadian Arenas get, the forum has dozens of plaques in the walkways around the perimeter of the building which relate the entire history of the arena and the happenings it has been witness to in its 90 year lifespan. For its heritage and historic value The Forum was designated a Halifax Historic Property in 2005.
Given its age, we shouldn't be surprised that The Forum is due for a facelift - to the tune of $39 million. While it was recommended that The Forum be demolished and a new arena built, regional council wisely rejected the recommendation, primarily because of the building's historic significance. A Halifax Chronicle Herald news story of May, 2016 has details.
The beginning of the article can be read below.
New Halifax Forum project to be reviewed
Published May 6, 2016 - 7:43pm
Bird Construction plan would include NHL-size rink
Halifax Regional Municipality is taking a second look at the $39-million overhaul of the Halifax Forum. Three, actually.
The city confirmed Friday it expects to award a contract in the next month for a peer review of the refurbishment and expansion plan for the Forum presented to regional council by the Halifax Forum Community Association.
HRM spokesman Brendan Elliott said Friday that reviewing the proposed plan, which has been accepted in principle by regional council, is part of a process recommended by the auditor general.
The $39-million proposal calls for an NHL-size Forum rink; a renovated Civic Centre with ice surface increased to NHL size; a third ice surface; new community rooms and lounge; new mechanical facilities; upgraded Maritime Hall and Bingo Hall; a new foyer and entrance. The plan was put together for the association by Bird Construction.
Regional council decided to consider the plan after it rejected a city staff recommendation last year to demolish the Forum and build a new stadium in Windsor Park. Council felt the Forum should remain because of its historic significance.
Elliott said when the review contract is awarded, the contractor will have two months to do the work and then report back.
He said the review is not to look at the structure of the building or the contractor’s plan but whether the facility will be financially viable after the renovations are done.
Secondly and simultaneously, the municipality will hire a consultant to do a forensic building assessment to look at the structure and property to make sure there are no unforeseen problems.
That assessment will look at structure, the bricks and mortar, the foundation, and the building plans, the age of the materials in the Forum and whether $39 million is a realistic figure for the renovation work being proposed, Elliott said.
In addition, a third report will “look at whether or not we can partner with private partners who can help defray some of the renovations’ costs and in turn, provide them with use of the property once the renovations are done,” he said.
Read on at the Halifax Chronicle Herald