107-year-old Dartmouth post office building up for sale

[OldDartmouthMark]

From the Chronicle Herald:

Pushing the envelope: heritage advocates ponder sale of Dartmouth Post Office

On Wednesday, the site was listed by Canada Post with international corporate real estate firm JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) and its Atlantic Canada partner, brokers Partners Global, which is taking offers from prospective buyers until May 7. They are advertising the property for potential mid- to high-rise development “with the former Dartmouth Post Office, a municipal registered heritage building that is to be honoured and preserved through the ensuing redevelopment.”

Although she couldn’t be specific, Partners Global broker and senior vice president Connie Amero describes the sale as “a very exciting project” and says there’s already been interest in the property which is advertised “for multi-residential, commercial or a combination of uses.”

“The developer would have to do their research, based upon the current zoning and come to an understanding of what can be done with the property,” says Amero, who points out that regulations surrounding the Dartmouth Post Office’s heritage property status and the municipality’s Central Plan.

District 5 - Dartmouth Centre councillor Sam Austin is more optimistic about the future of the Dartmouth Post Office. He played a crucial role in having the building designated as a heritage property when Canada Post moved its operations to nearby King’s Wharf in February, 2020, and he believes the buyer will be able to come up with a plan that respects the historic structure while making good use of the site’s surrounding area like the parking lot, loading bay and a later addition that doesn’t have the same historic value.

“We have not really had any demolitions of a registered heritage building in Halifax-Dartmouth in many, many years now. Because for the most part, once they’re registered, whoever’s buying the property buys it with that expectation in mind,” says Austin.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind (building) for sure. ... You could redevelop the bottom end of (the site) around the parking lot and make it a lovely combination of old and new. I know change is scary, but to me this is a good opportunity.”

Austin says the post office was a facility that became outmoded and too big for its latter-day use as our methods of long-distance communication have changed. Meanwhile, Jones tries to share the councillor’s optimism that the one-of-a-kind building can be preserved for a new use that fits the neighbourhood’s evolving character as a trendy and welcoming place to live, but he fears the buyer may simply wait out the three-year limit on its heritage designation and bring in the wrecking ball when the time is up.

“I’ve had to say the words ‘before it’s too late’ too many times advocating for the protection of heritage buildings in downtown Dartmouth,” sighs Jones.

As far as I'm concerned the building is one of the few jewels remaining in downtown Dartmouth... or perhaps all of Dartmouth... and I'm hoping for a good outcome that essentially preserves the building with upgrades to make it functional in its new role - but that are respectful to the heritage of the structure.

I don't imagine it will happen in this case, but the fact that Halifax still allows heritage buildings to be demolished after a 3-year waiting period is almost unbelievable to me...

At one point I had a glimmer of hope that the clock tower section would be reinstated as in the old photo... but deep down I always knew it was never going to happen. Anyhow... here's hoping for the best!

[someone123]

I don't assume the worst with these things but NS and Halifax are really out there on heritage compared to many other places. This is true in terms of what gets registered, the level of actual preservation (even registered buildings are often stripped of detail over the years and kept in a mediocre state of repair), and the bizarre demolition laws. These unusual local norms seem to anchor the local discussions without much wider perspective, kind of like how in Oregon there are still debates about all the bad things that might happen if they allow members of the public to pump their own gas one day instead of only the highly skilled, government mandated full service gas attendants.

I recently saw a video about a town in France that got abandoned a while back. None of it was demolished because the old church was considered historically significant and due to that there was a demolition ban within some radius, something like 500 m or so. Seems excessive but it puts NS into perspective. Consider also that the "burden" of preserving heritage buildings in Europe is far far greater than NS. Halifax in particular is a fast growing city now and its heritage stock of buildings has dwindled. But the protections for even the 0.5% or 0.1% most historic buildings are mediocre to nonexistent.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

At one point I had a glimmer of hope that the clock tower section would be reinstated as in the old photo... but deep down I always knew it was never going to happen. Anyhow... here's hoping for the best!

Sam Austin actually said on Twitter last week that the city owns the original clock tower and has it in storage, if any buyer wants to restore it. I doubt that will happen, but hey, who knows.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Sam Austin actually said on Twitter last week that the city owns the original clock tower and has it in storage, if any buyer wants to restore it. I doubt that will happen, but hey, who knows.

The city can make this happen. Give a density bonus to the developer.

Another project that would be great is a reconstruction of the dockyard clock. The current monument looks like one of those small town 80's monuments you see that are constructed out of the remnants of buildings like the Dartmouth post office. But this is Canada's oldest working clock, installed 1772 on the Hauser Stores. It should be treated like Quebec City or Louisbourg. Also rebuild the Great Pontack.

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Sam Austin actually said on Twitter last week that the city owns the original clock tower and has it in storage, if any buyer wants to restore it. I doubt that will happen, but hey, who knows.

I learned recently that under the new Centreplan there is an added density bonus that can be achieved through restoration and rehabilitation of heritage buildings. I don't know the exact specifics of how the calculations work but it could mean if the developer restored that clock they could get an increase in the FAR on the lot. Which right now is assigned at 2.25.

[Keith P.]

Maybe Sam can sacrifice a few of his street narrowing, curb bump-out, and bike lane projects for this.

Lots of oldsters are calling for this to become a municipal museum. Museums are money pits so I think that is unlikely. The building requires asbestos remediation according to the rumor mill and major upgrades to bring it up to code, so it will be challenging no matter what happens.

Here's the Partners Global listing link: https://www.partnersglobal.com/prope...reet-dartmouth

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Sam Austin actually said on Twitter last week that the city owns the original clock tower and has it in storage, if any buyer wants to restore it. I doubt that will happen, but hey, who knows.

Originally Posted by Jonovision

I learned recently that under the new Centreplan there is an added density bonus that can be achieved through restoration and rehabilitation of heritage buildings. I don't know the exact specifics of how the calculations work but it could mean if the developer restored that clock they could get an increase in the FAR on the lot. Which right now is assigned at 2.25.

Wow! Very interesting... I had assumed that the pieces were long gone. Wouldn't that make this project an iconic project for DT Dartmouth (and I don't use iconic lightly... ).

If this were to happen, they would have to look into the reasons of why it was taken down in the first place... I have a glimmer of memory that says its weight was causing structural issues with the building, but that might not be accurate. That said, with modern techniques it would be no problem to engineer a solution for it.

I wonder if it's possible for the city to make a requirement for the clock tower to be reinstated... ...but maybe density bonusing would work.

[Jonovision]

Do we know if it is the full clock tower including the stone or is it just the clock mechanisms?

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

Do we know if it is the full clock tower including the stone or is it just the clock mechanisms?

Edit: I found the following info in the request to add the property to the Heritage Registry, on page 13 or the research document attachment:

The Removal of the Clock Tower (1977)
The Dartmouth Post Office once housed the first electric clock in the town. It was removed in 1977
due to structural concerns and after discussions at council. That section of the building was
restructured and architectural detailing, such as the cornice line, was put in place. The Dartmouth
Heritage Museum acquired the clock and currently houses in-storage at a warehouse in
Burnside.

The wording makes it sound like only the clock mechanism is being stored, so it probably wouldn't be possible, or at least economically feasible to reconstruct the clock in stone. Stranger things have happened, though...

[OldDartmouthMark]

As a side note, the Research Report linked in the post above indicates that the architect who designed the Dartmouth Post Office, David Ewart, also designed the Customs House that used to be at the corner of George St. and Bedford Row in Halifax (built 1902, demolished around 1960). Ewart was the Chief Architect of the Department of Public Works, and was responsible for designing over 340 public buildings across Canada, notably (to me) the Canadian Mint building.



Source of above photo