Nova Scotia awards $1.38-million contract for demolition of former CBC building

Nova Scotia has awarded a contract for the demolition of the former CBC building on Bell Road in Halifax.

The $1.38-million contract has been awarded to Asbestos Abatement Limited as part of the QEII New Generation project.

The federal government declared the building — which is where This Hour Has 22 Minutes is filmed — as surplus and it was sold to the province for $4.5 million in November 2017.

The building includes two acres of land currently housing a parking lot with 93 spaces.

The province announced the decision on Tuesday, saying it meant the construction of a new outpatient centre was one step closer to reality.

“The demolition of the former CBC building is an important step to make way for a new health-care facility that will serve hundreds of thousands of Nova Scotians each year,” Lloyd Hines, minister of transportation and infrastructure renewal, said in a press release.

The new outpatient centre will allow for services currently offered at the Centennial, Victoria and Dickson buildings of the QEII to be offered all at one location. The province says the services include:

• Dialysis
• Diagnostic imaging
• QEII eyes care centre
• Heart health clinics and cardiology services such as stress testing and electrocardiogram
• Blood transfusions and drug therapy
• Orthopedics, plastic surgery, urology and oral surgery clinics

2:07 New location proposed for QEII redevelopment parkade

The Halifax Infirmary expansion also includes a new cancer centre, inpatient centre and innovation learning centre.