Connaught-Quinpool Coun. Jennifer Watts has put forward a motion that would put an end to large-scale concerts on the Halifax Common.
The motion, which will be debated by councillors next week, seeks to move all major concerts from the North Common site on the Halifax Common to Garrison Grounds on Citadel Hill beginning next year.
The motion also suggests planned upgrades to the Halifax Common be undertaken to enhance existing uses, rather than to support infrastructure needs for major concert events.
“(The motion) is not saying no to major concerts,” Watts told Metro. “My position is why don’t we continue to have really great concerts at the Garrison Grounds … and if we really want to do much larger concerts, we really need to be looking at another site.”
Watts said she brought forward the motion over concerns her constituents were telling her regarding the conditions and uses of the Common — a space, she noted, that is held in common for citizens of Halifax.
According to Watts, the current memorandum of understanding with the municipality states concerts of 30,000 to 35,000 people should be held at Garrison Grounds, while anything more than 40,000 would be considered for the North Common.
But local promoter Harold MacKay said losing the Common as a concert space would be a big blow to HRM.
“As a local promoter of major concerts, we’ve had great success on the Halifax Common,” MacKay said. “I don’t want to see it happen, because otherwise I have to take (concerts) to Moncton and other places, and that’s not good for the economy.”
MacKay also disagreed the Garrison Grounds can support an event with 30,000 people, saying the number is somewhere closer to 20,000.
He also noted the positive economic spinoff of last summer’s Kiss and Paul McCartney concerts, which he placed somewhere near $24 million.
MacKay said a combined audience of between 70,000 to 80,000 took in the shows.
Country festival
Country music star Alan Jackson is headlining a two-day country music festival on the Halifax Common this August.
