A number of major music acts are headed to the Maritimes this summer, but they won’t be performing in Halifax.
The Scotiabank Centre is slated to undergo renovations to its ice surface from July to October, meaning Halifax’s main arena won’t be able to host any big events during that time.
“This summer we are going to be replacing our ice slab,” explains Erin Esiyok-Prime, senior manager of marking and communications at Events East. “It’s actually the original ice slab, so that’s the concrete slab, all the pipes, plant underneath that make the ice. It’s 40 years old.”
Bryan Adams, Keith Urban and Chicago are just a few of the big acts hitting Maritime cities this summer, but Halifax has been left off their tour schedules.
Officials at the Scotiabank Centre couldn’t confirm which acts are skipping Halifax due to the renovations, but they did say they have been working with concert promoters for a year.
“There’s never an amazing time to close down the building, but we feel really confident in this timing,” says Esiyok-Prime. “It’s a slower period for events and continued investment in a facility like this is important to make sure we can deliver those events.”
The project also means a delayed start to the Halifax Mooseheads’ home opener. The team will play its first few games on the road.
“Our home opener last year was September 30th, so this year it will be pushed back certainly a few weeks, but we’ve seen the first rough draft of the schedule from the league and we like what we see,” says Brian Urquhart, the team’s vice-president of business operations.
Halifax will host the Memorial Cup in May 2019, but Scotiabank Centre officials say the timing of the renovations is purely coincidental, and that the project wasn’t planned for the event.
“We have an excited fan base that’s looking forward, as the rest of the city, to the Memorial Cup, which is one year from next week,” says Urquhart.
The renovations won’t disrupt the annual Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, which runs from June 26 to July 2.
As for eager concertgoers, Esiyok-Prime says they can expect to see some acts lined up in the fall.
“We expect we’ll have great announcements coming in the coming months for the fall lineup,” she says.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Suzette Belliveau
