Historic Halifax

[Dmajackson]

Wrecking ball headed to Bedford’s historic Roy House
THE CHRONICLE HERALD
Published August 16, 2016 - 7:39pm

A demolition permit has been issued for a grand old home overlooking Bedford’s historic waterfront.

Roy House faces the wrecking ball with a demolition permit issued for 378 Shore Drive on Aug. 4 to owner Steve Tsimiklis of Dino Capital Ltd.

Coun. Tim Outhitt said the stately house is in disrepair.

“It needs a lot of work but it’s a beautiful old home. I walk by it regularly,” Outhitt said.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t have any heritage protection.”

...

The Chronicle Herald - "Wrecking Ball Headed to Bedford's historic Roy House" - August 16th, 2016

Google Streetview

This is a big blow to Bedford's heritage. The building is in bad shape but it is historic and beautiful.

[Drybrain]

Has Tsimiklis ever done anything that doesn't make the city worse?

Of course, again, the real villain here is the city/province and our horrendous identification and protection of heritage resources. A grand Victorian house, in a highly visible location, with connections to one of the city's most historically important business people and a Group of Seven artist, shouldn't be something that some over-moneyed philistine can just knock down on a whim, but, of course, in this town it is.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Has Tsimiklis ever done anything that doesn't make the city worse?

He certainly does seem to home in on and destroy some nice buildings. I'd say there's lots of blame to go around in this case.

[TheNovaScotian]

A lot of this blame can be laid at council and the planning departments feet.
Both seem to have their heads up their proverbial asses. Council has been so behind the ball that they are perpetually trying to play catch up on the issues. While they play catch up developers seem to be running rings around them.

[beyeas]

Not sure if it has been noted in here yet, but reportedly Phil Pacey died Thursday
EDIt: sorry, I see this was in the general thread already.

[fenwick16]

I noticed this post on this website - https://www.facebook.com/Historic-Halifa...225075766/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf regarding the tunnels under Halifax:

Mystery Tunnels Beneath The Streets Of Halifax
Will we ever get to the bottom of this mystery?
Everyday the people of Halifax walk over mysterious tunnels beneath the city's oldest streets. Their origin and purpose remains a mystery to this day. The tunnels appear to run under the oldest streets below the citadel : Prince, George, Sackville, and Duke.
The stone chambers were first discovered under the streets of Halifax in 1919. During routine street work, workers broke through the ceiling of one of the chambers at the top of George Street just below the town clock.
Initially, these tunnels were dismissed as former sewage tunnels leading down from the fort, however samples were taken from the floorboards of the tunnels and tested for traces of human biological matter. Results came back that this was not a sewage system. So the mystery continues...
Another myth says that the British military built tunnels between the Halifax Citadel and Georges Island, two of the forts that defended the port. While it is a romantic idea that the military covertly moved under the harbour, it is a myth. While studying the harbour, GSC scientists used seismic-reflection systems to peer beneath the harbour bottom and produce images of the layers of sediments and rocks. The result? Images of the seabed between the island and the shoreline show no evidence of tunnels.
Access points have been sealed over in the Dennis building (George St) and the basement of the Bluenose Restaurant (Duke St) - although sealed off, is still clearly visible.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Hmmm... very interesting!

I got to see the entrance to a tunnel that apparently runs from The Halifax Club underneath Hollis Street during Doors Open Halifax a couple of years ago. Would love to know more about it.

[fenwick16]

With all the entrances to the tunnels, I wonder why no one has explored them in detail.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Further down on the Facebook page you linked to, there is a link to an article from the Herald about the tunnels. Apparently there was a documentary done about them, but I've not seen it.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/12...t-underground-world#.VRcaTmYBJbo.twitter

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Further down on the Facebook page you linked to, there is a link to an article from the Herald about the tunnels. Apparently there was a documentary done about them, but I've not seen it.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/12...t-underground-world#.VRcaTmYBJbo.twitter

Thanks for the information. Here is a link to the CBC video - http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2661327655. It isn't very long at 22 minutes, which includes a few short commercials.

The video has some interesting images of the tunnels and some theories as to what they may be. Unfortunately the documentary makers didn't actually go into the tunnels under Halifax. Based on past pictures of the tunnels, they look similar to tunnels on Georges Island and the Citadel, so it is reasonable to believe that the tunnels under Halifax are military tunnels.

[Jonovision]

The scaffolding came down on the entrance to 1580 Barrington St. They did a really nice job restoring the staircase and columns.

20170406_120926 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

20170406_154549 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

20170406_154557 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

[OldDartmouthMark]

Looks great!

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

Thanks for the information. Here is a link to the CBC video - http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2661327655. It isn't very long at 22 minutes, which includes a few short commercials.

The video has some interesting images of the tunnels and some theories as to what they may be. Unfortunately the documentary makers didn't actually go into the tunnels under Halifax. Based on past pictures of the tunnels, they look similar to tunnels on Georges Island and the Citadel, so it is reasonable to believe that the tunnels under Halifax are military tunnels.

Thanks for the video link - I finally had a chance to view it. Not conclusive by any means, but certainly intriguing!

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

The Chronicle Herald - "Wrecking Ball Headed to Bedford's historic Roy House" - August 16th, 2016

Google Streetview

This is a big blow to Bedford's heritage. The building is in bad shape but it is historic and beautiful.

FWIW, I was in the neighborhood yesterday and decided to drive by - all that's left is the wall now. The house is long gone.

[kph06]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

FWIW, I was in the neighborhood yesterday and decided to drive by - all that's left is the wall now. The house is long gone.

Google caught the tail end of demolition.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by kph06

Google caught the tail end of demolition.

There it was... gone. Too bad somebody couldn't have found a way to save it.

On a more positive note - Google's 3D maps are great. I'm imagining in years to come it will be a great resource for those who want to research older buildings, neighborhoods, roadways, etc., provided that the data is archived over the long term.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

FWIW, I was in the neighborhood yesterday and decided to drive by - all that's left is the wall now. The house is long gone.

So terrible. That was one of the nicest old historic houses in Bedford. In many other places the demolition would have been stopped and the house would have been saved.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by someone123

So terrible. That was one of the nicest old historic houses in Bedford. In many other places the demolition would have been stopped and the house would have been saved.

It should have been in this case as well, but since we are apparently unable to preserve the stately mansions of Young Ave., one of the most prominent streets in the city, I hadn't held out much hope that one in a relatively obscure section of Bedford would be preserved.

[OldDartmouthMark]

For infrastructure aficionados, a brick manhole likely from the 19th century was uncovered on Argyle St. yesterday.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/halifax-argyle-street-mystery-tunnel-sewer-line-1.4160698



While there seems to be some online disappointment that it wasn't an entrance to one of the much-speculated tunnels that are believed to run under the downtown streets, I think it's cool for what it is. You just don't see manholes that aren't poured or precast concrete anymore...

[JET]

http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/159...many-north-end-halifax-restorations-dies