Halifax to develop new master plan for Halifax Common

The Halifax Regional Municipality has issued a tender for a master plan to be developed to spruce up the Halifax Common.

An immediate priority of the master plan will be to redevelop the outdoor swimming and wading pools, playground and the recreation building known as the Pavilion. The tender document states there is an"urgent need" toreplace those facilities.

"Many of those have reached their lifespan at this particular point in time," said Richard Harvey, the manager of policy and planning for the municipality's parks and recreation department.

Need for a new plan

Harvey said the former City of Halifax created a Halifax Common plan in 1994, and since then there havebeen a lot of changes.

According to the tender document, both the pool and wading pool are 60 years old and"are in very poor condition."

"We'd be looking at doing quite a bit of public engagement over the next few months once we've got a consultant on board," said Harvey.

"We would see doing some focused energy and effort in and around some of those aquatic facilities and playground."

The maximum before-tax budget for this master plan contract is $220,000. The submission deadline for proposals is Sept. 26, with an anticipatedexecution date of Nov. 1.

Harvey said he wants the public consultation onthe master plan completed by spring and a reportto regionalcouncilby fall 2018.