The redevelopment of the Halifax Forum will not be deferred after a tie vote during the budget committee, Tuesday.
It was tabled by Mayor Andy Fillmore weeks ago as one of the strategies to tackle a ballooning budget and a threat of an 11.2 per cent property tax increase.
The project was originally slated to be finished by 2019 for $38 million but now carries a $126 million price tag with construction still not underway.
Fillmore suggested looking at alternate locations along the peninsula for a modern, accessible, two or three pad ice facility at a lower cost.
The motion was torn down the middle with eight votes both ways – which means it failed.
Fillmore said it’s important to know when to walk away from something even though they’ve already spent money on it and used an analogy from a local resident.
“You’ve paid money for your theatre ticket, you’re in the movie theatre, you’ve bought your popcorn, it’s the most terrible movie ever, do you sit through it anyway or do you stand up and walk away and make better use of your time,” said Fillmore.
Fillmore said it’s also important to be transparent on a project like this.
Councillor Sean Cleary pushed on that transparency, demanding to know how they would save money by deferring.
“Since the mayor brought up transparency I’m going to channel Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire – show me the money,” he said. “If you have any idea that this is going to be cheaper, give us the numbers. I want to see them. Otherwise, this is a pipe dream. This is absolutely ludicrous that we are having this conversation.”
He mocked how the mayor insisted deferring the redevelopment would be cheaper. Cleary said, if Fillmore showed him the numbers proving that, he would vote ahead the motion.
Councillor Virginia Hinch was also against pressing pause, despite that causing $16 million.
“The Forum is a large piece of land. Mostly parking. There are so many things we could look at. We are open to alternatives. We are open to looking at other ideas. Still, we do not need to defer this project at this time,” said Hinch.
Comments