News Release
Point Pleasant Renewal Gets Boost from Southwest Properties
(Friday, June 18/04)-- Halifax Regional Municipality plans to partner with a member of the local business community to sponsor a public consultation process and design competition for the restoration of Point Pleasant Park.
Mayor Peter Kelly, on behalf of Halifax Regional Council, announced today that Southwest Properties, a leading owner and operator of residential real estate in the Halifax area, has generously offered $100,000 to fund the consultation process and competition to attract design proposals from across Canada and internationally.
HRM and Southwest Properties will form a working group of stakeholders, experts and interested citizens to develop the process for selecting a winning submission from among top professionals in their field. The overall planning process will include workshops to solicit input from the public. HRM staff will submit a proposal to Halifax Regional Council for approval later this year.
"Point Pleasant Park belongs to the people of HRM, but it is a national treasure. We thank Mr. Spatz and welcome this opportunity from Southwest Properties to put a design in place, following input from the public, to ensure it is properly renewed and protected. This process will help us rejuvenate the park in the wake of the damage caused by Hurricane Juan," said Mayor Kelly. "This competition should help ensure that future generations will continue to enjoy the beauty and history the park offers."
"Point Pleasant Park is a superb urban waterfront park, and our proposal to renew it hopes to attract submissions from teams of highly-skilled professionals - landscape architects, arborists, soil specialists, and urban planners," said Jim Spatz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Southwest Properties. "We cannot replicate trees that are hundreds of years old, but we can rejuvenate this beautiful park and put self-sustaining ecosystems in place."
Mr. Spatz added "We have the opportunity to look at the park with fresh eyes and to try to make it the best park it can be for ourselves and future generations. At the same time, it is important to renew Point Pleasant in a way that respects and builds on its history."
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Mayor Peter Kelly,
(902) 490-4010
Jim Spatz
Chairman and CEO, Southwest Properties
(902) 422-8150
