Quote:
Originally Posted by counterfactual
I think the biggest failure of heritage preservation in this city has nothing to do with saving buildings. Much more important than any physical heritage article, is the active preservation of shared heritage and historical memory in the community. There is no point in saving a building if no one knows anything about its history or memory and thus why it ought to be kept around. The idiotic zealots in this city's Heritage Lobby have failed miserably on this count. We should have signs in every neighbourhood explaining that neighbourhood's history and evolution. We should have established official heritage walks, that are invested in, and beautified, by the city. We should have street signs with historical street names. We should have digital heritage maps, where people can go, and explore Halifax via Google Maps, with pinpoints for heritage highlights.
If you do a good job at this sort of thing, heritage preservation in architecture would go a lot more easily, because people would better appreciate the value to the community, including its identity and its evolution.
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I agree with this. I would love to see more education for the general public on the history of Halifax's old structures. Many of them have fascinating stories behind them and getting these stories out there will transform them, in the eyes of the public, from being just old buildings to interesting and important Halifax landmarks.
One thing that is disappointing to me is that there is even a need for heritage lobby groups. IMHO, all 3 levels of government should have a clear directive to preserve prominent heritage properties - they should be leaders in that category not followers. It's sad that it has been left to a rinky-dink lobby group to be the driving force behind heritage preservation and I think it's time for change in that regard. I know some work has been done but it hasn't been enough - the fact that the Dennis building's future is still unclear is good evidence of this.
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