After nearly two months of at-times heated negotiations, the province and HRM appear to have reached an agreement on funding the proposed downtown convention centre.
Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Minister Bill Estabrooks will attend a press conference with Mayor Peter Kelly this morning.
Estabrooks said he couldn’t comment on the specifics but did note that it “looks like things are beginning to fall in place.”
“There’s finally been some positive developments, and the movement is continuing,” said Estabrooks, reached by phone yesterday.
“I’m looking forward to taking some very progressive steps very quickly when it comes to the convention centre.”
Estabrooks said he took part in a conference call concerning the convention centre Friday evening. Earlier that day, Halifax regional council held a four-hour in-camera session to discuss the ongoing negotiations on funding models for the proposed facility.
“We went from around 2:30 to around 6:30 … a lot of discussion, a lot of debate,” Kelly said yesterday.
“Hopefully, we are close to completing the negotiations and finding a way to move this project forward.”
If the province and the municipality have indeed reached a compromise, the final step would be convincing the federal government to chip in the final $46 million for the $159-million centre.
Estabrooks acknowledged the timing is tight but said he remains confident a deal can be achieved before the deadline.
