[Halifax] The Roy (1650 Granville) | 71 M | 22 FL | Completed

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by pblaauw

According to page 7 of this PDF from our favourite heritage group, it was a wholesale shoe/boot company.

Yes the building was but I believe that sign was an advert rather then what was in the building. Iirc Johnson was the shoe guy..

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by pblaauw

According to page 7 of this PDF from our favourite heritage group, it was a wholesale shoe/boot company.

That doc is dated 2009. Does the Nova Scotia Anti-Development Trust still publish this newsletter? In e-form?

Peter Delefes is a former NDP MLA, no?

A lot of these annoying Nova Scotia Anti-Development Trust people are local NDP politicians.

[JET]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

That doc is dated 2009. Does the Nova Scotia Anti-Development Trust still publish this newsletter? In e-form?

Peter Delefes is a former NDP MLA, no?

A lot of these annoying Nova Scotia Anti-Development Trust people are local NDP politicians.

I may be a Luddite, but I know about this little thing called Google.

http://htns.ca/quarterly.html

You seem to be fond of sweeping generalizations; if not an NDP, would that make you a liberal or a conservative, and how is that working for you?

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by JET

I may be a Luddite, but I know about this little thing called Google.

http://htns.ca/quarterly.html

You seem to be fond of sweeping generalizations; if not an NDP, would that make you a liberal or a conservative, and how is that working for you?

Yes, I found it, but thanks. Very Google. Such heritage. So technology. Wow.

As for the rest-- a little overly defensive about the NDP, aren't we? Maybe? Yeah, just a bit.

Funny you ding me for "sweeping generalizations", and then put on your Seven League Boots and make the jump from me criticizing local NDP heritage trusters to assuming I'm a "liberal or a conservative". Sorry, wrong. Ever hear of independents? Centrists?

I don't identify with any of those parties. I think they've all been generally terrible for the province and the city. I've said on here more than once, that most Nova Scotia Governments have been pretty useless in the past; of all political stripes-- making easy, politically expedient, decisions and neglecting the province's and, especially, Halifax's long term interest.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

A lot of these annoying Nova Scotia Anti-Development Trust people are local NDP politicians.

Kommissar Howard Epstein provided them with pro-bono legal services acting on their behalf on one of their many lawsuits trying to stop development downtown, as I recall.

[JET]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Kommissar Howard Epstein provided them with pro-bono legal services acting on their behalf on one of their many lawsuits trying to stop development downtown, as I recall.

'pro-bono', can't remember if that was the one with Cher, or the one with U2. I expect HT may have a few individuals providing pro-bono services. Good for them.

[JET]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

Yes, I found it, but thanks. Very Google. Such heritage. So technology. Wow.

As for the rest-- a little overly defensive about the NDP, aren't we? Maybe? Yeah, just a bit.

Funny you ding me for "sweeping generalizations", and then put on your Seven League Boots and make the jump from me criticizing local NDP heritage trusters to assuming I'm a "liberal or a conservative". Sorry, wrong. Ever hear of independents? Centrists?

I don't identify with any of those parties. I think they've all been generally terrible for the province and the city. I've said on here more than once, that most Nova Scotia Governments have been pretty useless in the past; of all political stripes-- making easy, politically expedient, decisions and neglecting the province's and, especially, Halifax's long term interest.

"Seven League Boots'; thank God for Google, now I can actually learn something new everyday.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by JET

"Seven League Boots'; thank God for Google, now I can actually learn something new everyday.

With great boots, comes great responsibility.

[pblaauw]

If we all had those, there'd be no need for the bridges. And someone could take out the Cogswell Interchange with one deft stomp.

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by pblaauw

If we all had those, there'd be no need for the bridges. And someone could take out the Cogswell Interchange with one deft stomp.

If we could all travel up to 30km in a single step, there would be no need for roads much less bridges.


So, back to topic, now that The Roy as we knew it is one big rubble pile, how long before the new construction begins?

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by curnhalio

If we could all travel up to 30km in a single step, there would be no need for roads much less bridges.


So, back to topic, now that The Roy as we knew it is one big rubble pile, how long before the new construction begins?

I believe the da expires if they don't start by the fall.
I expect once the rubble is clear they will start digging

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by curnhalio

So, back to topic, now that The Roy as we knew it is one big rubble pile, how long before the new construction begins?

Let's pave it over, stripe it for parking, and invite those two Danish bike nuts back for a tour.

[Ziobrop]

Talked to the Dexter Demo foreman this morning. the bottom of the roy is bellow the bottoms of the foundations of the ajoining buildings. thats why there are still bits of structure left. the Vouge building is going to have the base of the foundation drilled next week and Tieback Anchors installed to keep it in place.

In the photos you can see the spray paint marks where they will go.
From http://theroy.builthalifax.ca/

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Nilan8888

Actually, I was taught the opposite (at Dalhousie). That "HIGGINS'S" would be correct. And this is from someone who was a professor of old English.

There was, according to them, no such thing as "HIGGINS'" -- that it was just something that started to get used. So yeah, if that's correct now, the rules have changed.

Well, I took "engineer's English" at Dalhousie, so you're ahead of me there...

I was referring back to elementary school English as taught at Greenvale School back in the '70s, so I believe that this would also be trumped by your aforementioned professor of old English.

I was always more of a sciences guy anyways.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by JET

"Seven League Boots'; thank God for Google, now I can actually learn something new everyday.

I'm gonna get a pair of those seven league boots to wear with my fifty mission cap.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

Talked to the Dexter Demo foreman this morning. the bottom of the roy is bellow the bottoms of the foundations of the ajoining buildings. thats why there are still bits of structure left. the Vouge building is going to have the base of the foundation drilled next week and Tieback Anchors installed to keep it in place.

In the photos you can see the spray paint marks where they will go.
From http://theroy.builthalifax.ca/

Great pics!

Interesting to see behind the cladding on the vogue.

Having just spent a week in Portland, Maine, I can't help but think that a building like The Roy would have definitely been saved there, no questions asked. Spend some time in the downtown area of Portland and there will be no doubt in anybody's mind that our heritage "laws" are far too weak and that the HTNS has become ineffective.

Spending some time in old buildings that haven't been gutted and facaded really gives one an impression of what we have lost here. I'm left feeling a little disgusted, actually.

http://www.portlandmaine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2677

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Having just spent a week in Portland, Maine, I can't help but think that a building like The Roy would have definitely been saved there, no questions asked. Spend some time in the downtown area of Portland and there will be no doubt in anybody's mind that our heritage "laws" are far too weak and that the HTNS has become ineffective.

Spending some time in old buildings that haven't been gutted and facaded really gives one an impression of what we have lost here. I'm left feeling a little disgusted, actually.

I had a similar reaction after visiting Portland—it's brickier in general, but there are strong similarities: east-coast port cities on a peninsula, with inner residential areas in the New England/Maritimes wooden vernacular, and a brick-and-stone downtown.

I suspect Portland was more impressive to begin with (as American cities tend to be—see Chicago vs. Toronto, or Seattle vs. Vancouver) but certainly, there is a sense of an alternative-universe Halifax.

But, Halifax serves as the commercial hub of our region, akin to Boston (on a much smaller scale). So that's a lot more development pressure than Portland would've seen. Portland is probably still so intact thanks to preservation by neglect for much of the 20th century—if Saint John ever revitalizes Uptown, it might be a better analogue to Portland, as a regional second city with a better historic vibe.

BUT: I agree that the demolition of the Roy was kind of messed up. It wasn't a great building, and it's done with now, but it's very rare to see structures of that age and size knocked down anymore. The fact that there are so many other structures either in precarious shape or immediately endangered—Khyber, Green Lantern, Elmwood Hotel, Dennis Building—really speaks to how poorly we perform on this front. We're not just lagging behind Portland; we're lagging behind the rest of Canada.

More upsetting is that city council just rubber-stamps every drastic facadism/demolition/major alteration that comes their way. And if they didn't, there'd be a massive hue and cry about anti-development Halifax and young people leaving and sacrificing our future to our heritage and blah blah blah. It's really a moronic civic discussion we have about this stuff, and it's handicapping us from greatness in our built environment.

[Keith P.]

I don't see anything much in Portland that we don't have here, except that their old buildings were generally nicer than ours to start with. You can't save everything.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

I suspect Portland was more impressive to begin with (as American cities tend to be—see Chicago vs. Toronto, or Seattle vs. Vancouver) but certainly, there is a sense of an alternative-universe Halifax.

This seems pretty dubious to me. It does look like Portland has a more uniformly-preserved downtown, but where's the Citadel analogue, or the equivalent of the Public Gardens or Point Pleasant and Fleming Park, or the planned George Street-Grand Parade axis? And which buildings in Portland are a step above the Bank of NS or Dominion Building? If Portland really were ahead I think there would be clearer answers to these questions.

On top of this there's the very significant fact that downtown Halifax is seeing a huge amount of construction right now. Portland in 2020 is probably going to look at lot like Portland in 2010 (or Portland in 1980 for that matter), but Halifax is going to improve a lot over the next few years. Some of this is at odds with heavy heritage preservation. There are plenty of showcase examples of small-scale infill projects in heritage neighbourhoods but not a lot of examples of the type of transformation that has been happening around Spring Garden Road. I know relatively little about municipal politics in Portland, but I have a feeling that sort of stuff wouldn't fly there.

Despite what I said, I do think the outcome in Halifax could have been a lot better given the level of economic activity and the heritage buildings the city started out with a few decades ago. The new buildings should be going on the parking lots. I'm happy that there's so much more construction now but I had hoped that the discussion on heritage preservation would have moved forward as well and it really hasn't.

[JET]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Well, I took "engineer's English" at Dalhousie, so you're ahead of me there...

I was referring back to elementary school English as taught at Greenvale School back in the '70s, so I believe that this would also be trumped by your aforementioned professor of old English.

I was always more of a sciences guy anyways.

I would have thought that Greenvale English would trump professor of Olde English, at least according to Dartmouth Downtown Hoyle rules.