Halifax Forum meeting to be rescheduled, councillors raise concerns over project pause

Discussions around the future of the aging Halifax Forum are back on track, after Halifax Regional Council voted in favour Tuesday of setting a new date for a community meeting on the proposed demolition of the heritage building.

The nearly century-old recreation centre is a municipal heritage property, and any redevelopment would require a legal process that includes public engagement.

The meeting was originally planned for Oct. 1, but was cancelled last month.

HRM staff announced the cancellation on Sept. 25, and said they would need to pause the redevelopment project to re-evaluate financial options.

According to staff, the updated project costs exceeded the $126 million approved by council by 10 to 12 per cent.

The decision blindsided the Halifax Forum Community Association.

“Nobody reached out prior to this and said something’s going on. This was an 11th-hour decision late on the Friday,” said Paul Card, chair of the association board, on Sept. 29.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, councillors said they too felt they weren’t properly briefed before the process was paused.

“That (community) meeting does need to happen at some point and it’s better to have it now than later because the cost could have increased from just waiting for that meeting to come up four or five months later,” said District 8 Coun. Virginia Hinch.

Some councillors said they didn’t understand why the meeting on the building’s heritage status was cancelled.

“Whether or not we vote to continue with this project or whether or not we’re going down where the mayor wants to go and sell off the land and demolish the place, it doesn’t matter,” said District 5 Coun. Sam Austin.

Municipal staff say a report they intend to release in December will have a more fulsome look at the status of the Forum project, as well as third-party insight into the cost increases.

Other councillors raised concerns about why staff had enough information to cancel the meeting, but couldn’t share all the details with council.

“So if there was enough information to cancel the public information meeting, why does council have to wait until December to get the report?” said District 10 Coun. Kathryn Morse.

Mayor Andy Fillmore said he sees value in moving things forward while staff continue working on the next steps.

“There’s no reason why we can’t have the staff going ahead and getting that third-party verification of cost while we proceed with a public consultation on demolition that we know has to happen anyway,” he said.

The motion to reschedule the public meeting was passed unanimously. While a specific date hasn’t been set yet, the meeting is expected to take place sometime in November.

Coun. Hinch stressed that the decision isn’t just about preventing delays but also about rebuilding community trust.

“If we’re going to do something, just do it, especially when it comes to public meetings,” she said. “I believe that we just need to keep to our word.”