Halifax mayor pushes new arena plan as Forum debate heats up

Longtime sports arena Halifax Forum could be demolished, but some community members are hoping to see the venue saved. Paul Hollingsworth reports.

HALIFAX - Pick-up hockey player Joel Jessome said the Halifax Forum is much more than just a hockey arena.

“This place has so much value to the Halifax community,” said Jessome, who is a former Junior and university hockey player. “This was the very first arena I skated in as a five-year-old. That was 55 years ago and I am 60 now.”

The Forum seats close to 6,000 people, and it opened in 1927. It’s an old-fashioned throwback to a forgotten era.

Over the past 99 years, iconic hockey teams and other sports events have been hosted at this venue, but some argue the years have been unkind. There are visible cracks and crumbling bricks on the facade outside.

Halifax’s mayor wants to tear it down and use the Forum space for non-sports purposes.

“What does need to be on the Forum site, is housing including affordable housing,” said Andy Fillmore. “But we need to have recreational and community spaces that are there now.”

The city is debating a plan to renovate the Forum with a price tag of $126 million.

The mayor has presented a different option: to spend less than half that amount in tax dollars and build a new two-arena facility at a different location.

According to the Halifax Forum Community Association, that’s a bad idea and they believe the inflated price tag has more to do with political mismanagement than it does the Forum’s viability.

“Council has put delays on the project,” said Halifax Forum Community Association chair Paul Card. “That’s why it’s $126 million. It’s $126 million because of inflation.”

Feeling conflicted, Jessome loves the Forum and the memories that come with it, but he also understands the city has responsible financial decisions to make.

“I would like to see it restored,” said Jessome. “Is it capable of being restored? I don’t know I’m not an engineer.”

Whatever decision is made about what to do with the aging venue, Jessome said he hopes some structural aspects of the current Forum’s design remain in the future.