New Art Gallery of NS plans thwarted indefinitely, says Premier

The project was originally scheduled to break ground this year and open on the Halifax waterfront in 2025

CITYnews halifax \ Steve Gow

The plans to build a new Art Gallery of Nova Scotia have been postponed.

Tim Houston announced that the planned project will be put on hold indefinitely, citing rising costs were to blame.

“We value the arts and want to make sure there is a home for art to be shared and displayed in our province,” says Premier Houston in a news release. “But now is not the time.”

The project was originally expected to cost about $137 million but a recent independent estimate projected a cost increase of at least $25 million due to rising inflation and increased construction costs.

Announced in April 2019, the project was originally scheduled to break ground this year on the Halifax waterfront but will now be paused indefinitely.

The Province had committed $70 million to the project with $30 million more coming from the federal government.

Halifax Regional Municipality had pledged $7 million while the Donald R. Sobey Foundation and the Sobey Foundation pledged $10 million to the project in November 2020