Media Room

News Release

Capital District Launch

(Monday, November 5, 2001) On Thursday, November 8th, 2001 the Capital District will be launched at 11 a.m. in Halifax Hall, City Hall. The Capital District is being established by Halifax Regional Municipality to develop and maintain a healthy, vibrant, urban core for residents and visitors, which supports the strength of the entire region and reinforces HRM as the Capital of Atlantic Canada. Its designated area will include the business districts of Downtown Halifax, Downtown Dartmouth, Spring Garden Road, Quinpool Road, and Gottingen Street

The new Capital District Task Force will provide a focus on issues related to the downtown core area and improve communication as a single point of contact is established between HRM administration and downtown stakeholders. Additionally, the Capital District Task Force will acknowledge HRM's need, as the largest urban area in Atlantic Canada, to create and maintain a coordinated, saleable urban business core product.

Among the Task Force's first priorities will be to develop a Capital District Vision, a Capital District Business Plan and a Communications Plan. Some of the issues they will address include the preservation and enhancement of Capital District assets, the promotion of the Capital District area as a first-class destination for business, residents and tourists. The Capital District Task Force will enable efficiencies and coordination among levels of government and various agencies, related to land use planning, maintenance of public spaces, streetscaping, special events and marketing.

The ongoing mandate for the Capital District will be:

• to create opportunity for HRM's urban core stakeholders, together to achieve greater success
• to position/brand HRM as the Capital of Atlantic Canada;
• to preserve and improve our world class quality of life;
• to provide a point of contact for operational service delivery with regards to day-to-day and longer term issues; and,
• to provide a "capital" context and opportunities for HRM's urban core recognizing the Capital District as the financial, cultural, business, entertainment and governance centre for the region.

Ultimately, the goal of the HRM's Capital District will position the municipality to gain appropriate recognition as a capital city of note not only within Atlantic Canada but also on a national scale.

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Contact:

Carol Macomber
Capital District Manager
(Tel) 902-490-5908