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[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by someone123

Depending on definition I'd pick the old art gallery proposal (dead) or Spring Garden West (demo so I think yet to break ground), or failing that, the St. Pat's redevelopment. The art gallery would have filled the bigger waterfront hole, SGW is pretty nice looking and is important now that the row of buildings there is gone, and St. Pat's is pretty much required for that little blob of density around Robie and Quinpool to cohere into something significant.

I think the city is going to feel a lot bigger once some current projects are done, assuming they're completed, and the scale is a bit hard to appreciate. Having a 40 storey building by the bridge on the Dartmouth side will make the city look a lot bigger. Same thing goes for looking down Spring Garden Road and seeing 30 storey buildings off in the distance. And the new hospital will be very large and busy.

There's also the possibility of something really good for Cogswell if an entity like Crombie decides to build a marquee project there, particularly if council does adjust the ramparts limits, which would make sense for that area.

I remember thinking about some not so great aspects of Halifax like the prominent empty lot at Barrington and George or the parking lots just off Spring Garden Road that made the city feel hit-or-miss walking around and a bit like a small town. The small town aspect is mostly gone now, or will be once currently under construction buildings are done. There will still be some strangely empty or underdeveloped areas but they'll be more the exception rather than the norm.

Fairly open definition. I believe SGW is close to finishing the demos, so you might get your wish (going to give the area a bit of a Bloor street circa 1990s vibe).

For the St. Pat's site... it will change that part of Quinpool. I think Quinpool's biggest issue at the moment isn't necesarily the vacant lots (not many left), but the streetscape. It needs an overhaul of sidewalks.

Come to think of it... Quinpool could be the East-West transit cooridor because the street is so wide! It could easily support a tram to ~downtown + a north/south Robie line.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

I also loved that iteration. I'm hoping we get something in the (faux deco?) style somewhere. It suits Halifax.

I agree. Halifax never had much deco style in the first place, and lost two notable examples in the CBC building and the Manulife building in recent years.

Not usually a fan of “faux” because it’s often bungled and looks cheap and out of place, but if done right it would be really cool IMHO.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Not usually a fan of “faux” because it’s often bungled and looks cheap and out of place, but if done right it would be really cool IMHO.

Agreed. It's all in the execution - and the surroundings are also significant. Those towers would look terrific in that neighborhood. For that matter, they wouldn't be out of place on Central Park West.

Whatever the Rouvalis bunch eventually erects, I hope they don't bungle the opportunity. Some of their other renderings have been criminally vanilla.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I agree. Halifax never had much deco style in the first place, and lost two notable examples in the CBC building and the Manulife building in recent years.

The Dominion Public Building and Bank of NS are amazing examples of art deco.

I'm on the fence about CBC but the Maritime Life building demolition was a big misstep, IMO, and the streetscape suffered as a result.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by someone123

The Dominion Public Building and Bank of NS are amazing examples of art deco.

I'm on the fence about CBC but the Maritime Life building demolition was a big misstep, IMO, and the streetscape suffered as a result.

The Nova Scotian Hotel is another example that remains.

I hesitated to mention the CBC bldg as an example, because it was replaced with a reasonably nice development. In a perfect world, though, I wish that new development could have replaced a less-interesting building and that the CBC (Scotia Chev) building could have been repurposed in a really imaginative way. It was very unique and (IMHO) it would have been cool to preserve its form.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Agreed. It's all in the execution - and the surroundings are also significant. Those towers would look terrific in that neighborhood. For that matter, they wouldn't be out of place on Central Park West.

Whatever the Rouvalis bunch eventually erects, I hope they don't bungle the opportunity. Some of their other renderings have been criminally vanilla.

Fingers crossed on that one!

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I hesitated to mention the CBC bldg as an example, because it was replaced with a reasonably nice development. In a perfect world, though, I wish that new development could have replaced a less-interesting building and that the CBC (Scotia Chev) building could have been repurposed in a really imaginative way. It was very unique and (IMHO) it would have been cool to preserve its form.

Well, it had already been repurposed once in its life, as it started as a car dealership/service dept/gas station/car storage facility with internal vehicle ramps all the way up to the roof. It's original second life with the CBC gave it a more conventional use but even then it retained the area at ground level on the corner where the gas pumps used to be. What replaced it has enough of the original's curvature at the corner to satisfy me. At some point you have to take a step back and decide what makes sense.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Well, it had already been repurposed once in its life, as it started as a car dealership/service dept/gas station/car storage facility with internal vehicle ramps all the way up to the roof. It's original second life with the CBC gave it a more conventional use but even then it retained the area at ground level on the corner where the gas pumps used to be. What replaced it has enough of the original's curvature at the corner to satisfy me. At some point you have to take a step back and decide what makes sense.

Sure, there are a lot of ways that you can look at it. IIRC there was also a car rental business in there concurrent with CBC. I think repurposing it as a bar/restaurant/entertainment facility with a rooftop patio would have been cool, but I can't say if this would be a practical idea. There was certainly more money to be made in redeveloping it.

FWIW, if it were up to me, I would have kept the 1920s vintage Irving station just up the street, but it wasn't up to me...

[someone123]

The CBC building had some charm but as Keith said was already repurposed and designed as a car dealership. It was a relatively modest and unadorned concrete "Streamline Moderne" building, and the replacement development is pretty nice, so it doesn't seem like so bad a loss. I also liked the old YMCA building (and before that the YWCA on Barrington). That stretch along South Park is one of the grander feeling areas downtown, like a little sliver of NYC or Boston (with an arbitrary height limit applied), and could be even a bit better if the remaining power lines were buried.

I wonder why there aren't more modern buildings built in that streamlined style with a coating (parging?) to give them a nicer surface as well as some cast concrete embellishment. It must not be a very expensive form of construction, and it looks pretty good.

The Tramway Building is a close cousin, a kind of missing link in the architectural tree designed by Andrew Cobb. Too bad it isn't in better shape.

[OldDartmouthMark]

I can't argue with the above points, which is why I said that "I hesitated to mention the CBC bldg"... in anticipation of the pushback...

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Sure, there are a lot of ways that you can look at it. IIRC there was also a car rental business in there concurrent with CBC. I think repurposing it as a bar/restaurant/entertainment facility with a rooftop patio would have been cool, but I can't say if this would be a practical idea. There was certainly more money to be made in redeveloping it.

It could have made for a cool adaptive reuse under perfect circumstances, but I don’t mourn it. As for the new building, it’s pretty good, and I think the YMCA that occupies the three storeys facing South Park is a really nice public use of the space.

[markbeaver]

I see that the Salty’s demolition has begun - has there been any updates about what the Armour Group is planning for the location, and the whole Law Courts property? I haven’t seen any updates since 2024 about this.

[IanWatson]

AllNS reports that Casino NS will be vacating the waterfront (probably moving to Dartmouth Crossing). That opens up a reallllly exciting opportunity to improve that end of the waterfront. While the Casino building was considered a major investment at the time, today it really seems poorly designed and that end of the waterfront is essentially dead.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

AllNS reports that Casino NS will be vacating the waterfront (probably moving to Dartmouth Crossing). That opens up a reallllly exciting opportunity to improve that end of the waterfront. While the Casino building was considered a major investment at the time, today it really seems poorly designed and that end of the waterfront is essentially dead.

Wow and wow.

If this happens, hopefully something will be built with substantial public access and services, like Queen's Marque, to draw people to that end of the waterfront. If it ends up being purely residential, while a plus for adding population to the DT, that end of the waterfront will remain basically dead.

The second wow is... DC becoming an entertainment district? Did not see that coming TBH.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by markbeaver

I see that the Salty’s demolition has begun - has there been any updates about what the Armour Group is planning for the location, and the whole Law Courts property? I haven’t seen any updates since 2024 about this.

Pics on FB

Kind of sad to see. Have gone there many times with visiting family members, and also had attended many work parties there for overseas visitors whose highlight of coming to NS was to have fresh local lobster.

Hopefully something really nice will replace it.

[ButterNutPecan]

Rumour on reddit is that the Casino is looking to move? Anyone have info on this?

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by ButterNutPecan

Rumour on reddit is that the Casino is looking to move? Anyone have info on this?

Yes, it was reported in AllNS today. Casino possibly moving to Dartmouth Crossing, easier to access from highways (think Casino NB).

No word on development other than it being a prime location especially since Cogswell redevelopment. An interesting tidbit though was that the possibility of removing ramparts restrictions for the whole Cogswell site is still on the table. It would be nice to see some real height here to break the downtown table-top.

[Reesor]

Dream scenario - 16,000 seat arena built out into the harbour. Never going to happen, but would love to see it.

[Jonovision]

The casino moving would be a great opportunity to move the ferry terminal too. I fit already has to be rebuilt for the ferry to bedford. Why not integrate it into a new development. This would also help to full activate the entirety of the waterfront instead of splitting it into two the way it currently stands.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Reesor

Dream scenario - 16,000 seat arena built out into the harbour. Never going to happen, but would love to see it.

Seconded!