Visitors GuideThe Crown Princess arrives in port today at 8:00 am with over 3,000 passengers and over 1,200 crew. The Grand Princess will be in port until 5:00 pm this evening before heading to New York and Fort Lauderdale. The ship is on a Transatlantic voyage which started in Copenhagen.
GRT: 113,651
Length: 288.3 meters
Beam: 36.05 meters
Depth: 8.5 meters
A visit by one of the world's most famous luxury liners,the QE2, has been cancelled. The vessel was to have sailed into Conception Bay this morning on her farewell voyage. However the Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Centre says high winds have forced the vessel to proceed to Southhampton, England instead.
For more information call the City of St. John's Tourism at 576 8106.
The City of St. John's and the George Street Association have shared the cost of a report on revitalizing George Street. We will present the George Street Redevelopment Study at a public meeting.
The report, prepared by the PHB Group Inc., presents a concept plan for the street, running from Beck's Cove in the east to Queen Street in the west. George Street will continue in its role as a centre for nightlife, with pubs and nightclubs and a lively street scene. There is also a desire to make George Street more attractive in the daytime and early evenings, for lunches, outdoor concerts and performances, and to make the street more visible from nearby streets. (WARD 2)
The concept plan proposes a new street surface that eliminates sidewalks, makes George Street into a pedestrian street with occasional access for vehicles during limited hours, revamps the outdoor seating areas, improves the outdoor stage and seating area at Prince Edward Plaza, moves the taxi lay-bys to Water Street and New Gower Street, and introduces a small-scale outdoor market at the east end near Yellowbelly Corner.
The report may be viewed during regular business hours (Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) at the City's Department of Planning on the 3rd floor of St. John's City Hall, and we can mail copies to interested people. Telephone enquiries may be directed to the Department at (709) 576-6121 or by email to planning@stjohns.ca.
Any persons wishing to make representation to the St. John's Municipal Council on the George Street Redevelopment Study are invited to refer their comments in writing to the City Clerk's Department in any of the following ways (by mail: City of St. John's, PO Box 908, St. John's, NL A1C 5M2; by fax: (709) 576-8474; by e-mail: cityclerk@stjohns.ca) by NOON, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2008. Any written representations received by that time will be included in the background information for the public meeting.
For more information visit: http://www.stjohns.ca/csj/NewsDetails?id=732
The cruise ship Aurora returns to St. John's today. The P and O Cruises vessel will be in port from 1:00 pm this afternoon until 5:30 pm this evening. The Aurora carries 2800 passengers and crew. This is the last Canadian port of call and the final port of call before the passengers disembark in Southampton.
The next vessel due in port is the Norwegian Jewel on Wednesday, September 24 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm carrying 2,400 passengers and 1,000 crew.
For more information call the City of St. John's Tourism office at 576 8548.
The City of St. John's will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 to provide an opportunity for interested members of the public to provide their comments to the City on the issue of hours of operation for bars/lounges.
The St. John's Municipal Council wishes to receive public input whether changes should be made to the current Provincial regulations regarding hours of operation for bars/lounges. The public representations received will assist Council in making a representation to the Provincial Government on the issue.
The public meeting will be chaired by a member of Council.
Any persons wishing to make representation on this issue prior to the public meeting are requested to please refer their comments in writing to the City Clerk's Department in any of the following ways (by mail: City of St. John's, PO Box 908, St. John's, NL A1C 5M2; by fax: (709) 576-8474; by e-mail: cityclerk@stjohns.ca).
For more information visit: www.stjohns.ca/csj/NewsDetails?id=730
(St. John’s, NL) -- Fall is a dangerous season for moose. It’s especially dangerous when they’ve been seen in Downtown St. John’s.
Come October, there will be plenty of Moose sightings in the capital city, but these Moose will be doing the shooting, as the American Hockey League returns to Mile One Centre. The Manitoba Moose (Vancouver Canucks’ farm team) will be at Mile One, along with the Hamilton Bulldogs and Toronto Marlies for an AHL exhibition series.
For the teams, it’s a crucial part of their training camp, as they prepare for the 2008-09 AHL season. The clubs will play a round-robin series at Mile One Oct. 1 and Oct. 4. On Sunday, Oct. 5, the top two teams in the round-robin will play for the newly-minted Iceberg Cup.
“We’re very pleased to see the American Hockey League returning to Mile One Centre,” said General Manager Tanya Haywood. “The AHL built up a solid core of fans during the days of the St. John’s Maple Leafs. With the Hamilton Bulldogs holding training camp at Mile One, we expect interest in the AHL to be renewed. The fact that the farm teams of the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks are here will also draw plenty of interest.”
However, for the City of St. John’s, it’s an even more crucial event. This series will help the City and Mile One down its road to securing a possible anchor hockey tenant for future years.
“This event is part of our strategic plan to bring the AHL back to St. John’s,” Haywood said. “The success of this venture will go a long way in determining St. John’s Sports and Entertainment’s next course of action.”
To help in this endeavour, Mile One is turning to the business community, as well as sporting organizations and hockey fans in general, to support this initiative. As an incentive to get involved, Mile One (www.mileonecentre.com) is offering group sales tickets at a drastically reduced price. For groups of 30 or more, tickets will be reduced in price from $14.50 each to just $9.50 each. That’s a $5 savings on each ticket.
For more information contact Donnie Power at (709) 685-8362 or via email at donniep@nl.rogers.com.
The City of St. John's has partnered with the Downtown Development Commission to undertake a comprehensive Parking Study in the Downtown Core area of the City. This study will serve as a guide in ensuring the Downtown is positioned properly, from a transportation perspective, to facilitate future growth and development in the Downtown Core.
The objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive parking study in the Downtown Core area of the City of St. John's. The consultant for this study will be expected to measure the existing and future projected supply and demand for parking in the Downtown and to develop a strategic management plan that will enable the City of St. John's to properly manage the transportation needs associated with the anticipated future growth in the Downtown Core over the next 15 years.
The IBI Group in association with Tract Consulting and the UVH Group is the consultant that has been hired by the City to complete this study over the next 20 weeks. This consultant was selected through a public request for proposals.
Be Part of the Vision
Throughout this study the IBI Group will be conducting surveys and meeting with stakeholders to solicit opinions on various issues that will shape the fabric of this study. If parking in the Downtown is an issue for you or your company organization or agency, get involved. Take a few minutes and register on-line for the project newsletter. Periodically we will issue newsletters to update those that have registered on the status of the study. We may also ask residents to participate in surveys related to the topic of parking in the downtown.
To register for the newsletter go to: http://www.stjohns.ca/cityservices/traffic/parkingstudy.jsp
You can also send your comments to parking@stjohns.ca
Plans are coming together for the first office tower development in St. John's in almost two decades, CBC News has learned.
A large vacant lot on New Gower Street is where commercial real estate broker Martek Morgan Finch has been assembling land for the project for more than a year.
Sources tell CBC News that the lot, on the corner of New Gower and Hamilton Avenue, is pegged for a tower for Johnson Insurance, one of the province's oldest insurance companies, which has long been headquartered at Elizabeth Avenue.
Johnson Insurance is believed to be wanting to relocate its headquarters to a new building, and possibly rent out excess space.
As St. John's city hall has not yet been presented with a design, it's not clear how big the building will be, but real estate brokers in the city believe the building will be between 70,000 and 120,000 square feet.
An office tower has not been built in the city since the John Cabot Building opened near Cabot Place and the Delta Hotel in 1991.
The city's heritage bylaws put restrictions on the height of construction in much of the downtown, but the lot in question is outside that zone, which means a developer could build a highrise without breaking height restriction rules.
A new tower, though, would be within walking distance of many downtown amenities, including restaurants and shops.
The project is coming together as commercial real estate vacancy rates in St. John's have reached record lows. A survey in June found that only three per cent of office space in St. John's was available to lease.
Excerpt CBC Radio Thursday, September 11, 2008
The amount of available office space in St. John's fell to less than three per cent at the end of June — the lowest rate the city has ever seen.
The latest report from real estate company Cushman & Wakefield LePage, which includes a monthly economic update for the city of St. John's, said the overall office market vacancy rate decreased from 5.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2007 to 2.68 per cent for the second quarter of 2008.
Office space in the downtown area is even harder to find, and the situation is expected to worsen as projects like the Hebron oil development gear up.
The lack of available space downtown prompted Emad Rizkalla, the president of high tech company Bluedrop Performance Learning, to renovate an old meatpacking plant on Prescott Street.
"There is space obviously in various parts outside the city. But in terms of downtown and having very high-end professional space, it's an extremely tight market now," he said.
There hasn't been an office tower built in St. John's in 20 years, but with the local economy booming and lease rates creeping up, city councillor and realtor Debbie Hanlon said she expects that will change.
"It just makes economic sense that you are going to build more or renovate the existing ones. There are still some ones down there that can be done. There's still space down there, and maybe council will start rezoning some residential to commercial areas," she said.
Excerpt CBC Radio Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The cruise ship Sea Princess, which was supposed to be in port today, has cancelled it's visit. Deborah Cook, from the City of St. John's Department of Tourism stated that the ship was outside of the Narrows for a couple of hours deciding if it was going to make port but the ship's captain decided not to come into the habour due to high winds and other adverse marine conditions. Any inquiries should be made at the City's Department of Tourism, 576-8106.
Princess Cruises, the Sea Princess, will arrive in port today between noon and 1:00 pm with approximately 2000 passengers and 900 crew members. The ship will be in port until 7:00 pm this evening.
The Sea Princess is on a Grand Transatlantic Adventure which began in Southhampton and finishes in New York. This is the only Canadian port of call and the last port of call for the Sea Princess before finishing its cruise in New York.
On Wednesday, September 17 the Royal Carribbean ship, the Jewel of the Seas, will be in port from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm with over 2500 passengers and almost 900 crew. St. John's will be its only Canadian port of call and also its last port of call before heading to Boston to finish its cruise.
The Cruiseship AIDA Aura will arrive in port on Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at 10:00 am, a few hours earlier than originally scheduled. The ship will remian in port until 8:00 pm on Tuesday with approximately 1300 passengers and 418 crew members.
Due to weather conditions the AIDA has bypassed its port of call in Greenland therefore arriving earlier than originally planned.
For more information please call the DDC at 579 4139 or the City of St. John's Tourism at 576 8539.
