Quote:
Originally Posted by Drybrain
My gut feeling is that because Halifax has such a reputation as a heritage-rich city, and such a noted heritage lobby, there's been a small but vocal counter-reaction from some folks who seem to think that old buildings are liabilities to progress. If the Dennis building were on Stephen Avenue in Calgary or Granville Street in Vancouver or Yonge Street in Toronto, I can scarcely imagine its survival would even be in question. It seems as if sometimes Halifax takes its heritage for granted, or there's an enough-is-enough attitude to heritage, which makes the loss of a building like the Dennis seem somehow palatable.
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Unfortunately, I'm not sure it is "small", and here is why: for the longest time, there really were no new developments downtown at all. Think, 20 years and no cranes.
So, when some proposals for new developments finally did come around, the biggest most vocal opponents were the Heritage Lobby, that often fought each through litigation. This, I think, really polarized general public sentiment against the Heritage Lobby for a few reasons-- First, people resented the Heritage Lobby for obstructing the few proposals that actually were proposed over the last 20 years. When there is a serious dearth of development, and people see hope in a new project, Heritage opposing it, suggests they are acting against the economic hopes of the city. Which they were, arguably.
Second, their campaigns were not carried out through general persuasion or public information. They never tried to get the public onside, probably because they knew no one shares their NIMBYism nor their treating "view planes" as sacred and untouchable. Rather, like all lobby groups whose views are not shared by the majority, they took counter-majoritarian measures. They fought developments with lawyers and backroom lobbying-- HRM staff and Councillors.
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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