N.S. Sport Hall of Fame asks city for $300,000 for renovation

The Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame is hoping the Halifax Regional Municipality will provide some of the final funding it needs for a $5.5-million renovation planned for completion in November.

Hall CEO and president Bruce Rainnie made the $300,000 request to the municipality’s planning committee during their meeting Thursday. The hall is set to re-open its doors on Nov. 8, just in time for the 2025 hall inductees.

“We’ve raised a lot already and are committed to raising more on our own,” said Rainnie during his presentation.

The construction is currently about 40 per cent finished at the same location of the old sport hall of fame located in Scotiabank Centre. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the hall closed its doors. Rainnie took that as an opportunity to redesign and rebuild.

The renovated hall will include a new exhibit titled Where we all can play that recognizes people in marginalized communities that have been strengthened through sport and made an impact on it.

“From African Nova Scotian, to Indigenous, to Paralympians, to special Olympians, to women of excellence who oftentimes have not gotten the press they deserved in the past,” said Rainnie of the range of recognition.

For the first time ever, the entire collection of more than 8,000 artifacts will be displayed in the sport hall of fame. The exhibits are currently in a storage locker on Brunswick Street. The new facility will allow them to control the climate of the space, including temperature and humidity, to keep the pieces preserved.

The renovations will make the hall fully accessible, including features such as elevators, washrooms and wheelchair ramps, with 35 per cent more square footage for artifact space. This will be the first time the facility will have windows.

“For us that’s a really big deal, trust me,” Rainnie said.

Coun. Becky Kent (District 3 Dartmouth South-Woodside-Eastern Passage) was particularly excited about the news, as she was a former Saint Mary’s University soccer player and grew up playing sports.

“Sport has always been a huge part of the Nova Scotia experience and lifestyle,” she said.

Kent asked if there would be a space to recognize the people of the past who pushed sports forward in the province.

“I know of a number of women in our city and across the province,” said Kent. “I suspect there’s long journeys and long stories of sports across Nova Scotia.”

Rainnie said that every year the hall inducts two people who are considered trailblazers in the province and there will be a large space dedicated to them.

Hall of fame past

The sport hall of fame was first opened in 1964 by John E. Ahern, who was mayor of Halifax in the 1950s.

Since then, it’s moved around to four different locations in Halifax. 

It started at the Halifax Forum, moved to the Brewery Market, then the World Trade and Convention Centre, before finally opening its doors at the Scotiabank Centre in 2006.

In those first 15 years at Scotiabank Centre and with free admission, the hall saw 55,000 visitors a year, admitted 580 inductees and hosted more than 100 events.

“We’ll have room to tell those stories that we previously did not have,” Rainnie said. “We’re a big part of downtown Halifax and we have a tremendous amount to offer.”