HALIFAX – Union workers at the Halifax Forum say a city staff recommendation to tear down the facility and build a new complex will leave local residents underserved.
Staff told council the property and attached buildings should be sold to pay for a new $45-million arena with four ice surfaces — a “four-pad” — at nearby Windsor Park in conjunction with CFB Halifax.
Halifax North Coun. Jennifer Watts said one of the rinks at the new facility would be for use by the military, leaving three available.
Forum workers say it won’t be enough to meet the needs of the community.
The Halifax Forum Community Association is proposing instead to add a third rink where the Multi-Purpose Centre now stands. Watts said it would also include a walking track, a gym for sports such as ball hockey and community rooms. She said facility rental fees could provide income to the city.
The association’s proposal also calls for the ice surface to be enlarged to the standard size of 200 feet long and 85 feet across, to eliminate pillars that block audience sightlines, to give the brickwork a facelift, and to open the windows.
The Forum, which has been open since 1927, has a deep connection with the city’s history, including the Halifax Wolverines, a team that won an Allan Cup, and the American Hockey League champion Nova Scotia Voyageurs.
Both Dalhousie and Saint Mary’s universities play in the 5,000-seat Forum and would need new home arenas if it were demolished — ones with more seating than the rinks at a four-pad would provide.
A public consultation to discuss the Forum’s future will be held at the arena on July 2.
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