The former Chronicle Herald building site on Argyle will be the home of the new World Trade and Convention Centre, according to CTV News.
Politicians at both levels of government are staying tight-lipped, and officially no decision has been made yet.
But CTV says the Argyle Street site, which also includes the Midtown Tavern on Grafton Street, has beaten its competition.
Citing anonymous sources, reporter Rick Grant said winning developer Joe Ramia was planning a 13-storey glass office tower on the Midtown Tavern site and a 17-storey hotel where the old Herald building currently stands.
The Herald site would also hold the new convention centre, which would feature 2,500 seats. That’s about three times what the current centre holds.
Diagrams show a pedway connecting the two buildings over Grafton Street.
Despite the details from Grant’s report, politicians and developers have shied away from confirming anything on the record.
“We’ve made no decision yet. We’re working very closely with the city and we’ll have more details in the future,” Premier Rodney MacDonald said.
When asked if Argyle Street would be the new home of the convention centre, he said again, “We haven’t made any final decisions yet, and those details will come out another day.”
Phil Pacey, president of the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia, implied his group might fight the development. While the lot is not a heritage site, Pacey pointed out it is near other heritage buildings such as St. Paul’s Church.
“We would want buildings to respect the scale and complement those heritage buildings,” said Pacey.
With files from Jennifer Taplin
