Old Halifax

[worldlyhaligonian]

The HT should be fundraising to have those details rebuilt or restored.

I think somebody on the forum mentioned one of them was in storage somewhere?

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by cormiermax

Halifax could have been a spectacular European looking city if the 50s 60s and 70s didn't completely ravage everything. So many Georgian treasures were lost, I can't believe people thought building things like Harbour Drive or Scotia Square would improve the city.

Very sad.

Neither of those projects had any effect on these buildings.

Scotia Square replaced pretty much the worst slum in the city and Harbour Drive, it could be argued, would have given us a different waterfront than what we now have, but not necessarily a worse one. It would have sparked entirely different development than the current tourist huts and faux-heritage places like Murphy's that dominate the waterfront.

The current TD tower took the place of the building in the left foreground - I am not sure if it is better or worse. I agree that the building on the right is a loss and it is a shame it was torn down. and nothing has replaced it in ages. I am unsure what the original motivation for that move was - presumably it would have been more profitable to renovate it to some degree than to turn the lot into a parking lot for 20 years. The Royal and BMO towers replaced their original buildings in the 1960s and were really 2 of the first tall buildings in the downtown, so I am not sure that is a bad thing in retrospect.

[cormiermax]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Neither of those projects had any effect on these buildings.

Scotia Square replaced pretty much the worst slum in the city and Harbour Drive, it could be argued, would have given us a different waterfront than what we now have, but not necessarily a worse one. It would have sparked entirely different development than the current tourist huts and faux-heritage places like Murphy's that dominate the waterfront.
.

I never said either had any effect on those specific buildings, but that they had a major effect on our urban and heritage fabric. From what iv seen, a lot of the houses that Scotia Square replaced where sandstone buildings similar to the house next to the TD building. If what iv seen is true this could have been a huge asset to the city, even if it was at the time a slum. I would have preferred that area stay a slum until a time where people started to appreciate buildings from that era and they could be properly rejuvenated, rather than demo the hole thing and plop down some ugly concrete blocks.

[someone123]

It's interesting to consider that buildings like the Bank of NS HQ also replaced some very nice heritage structures (that stretch of Hollis was all 4-6 storey stone Victorians), but we don't miss them as much. In most cases I think the regret has more to do with the quality of the new buildings than the old ones.

The taller building at Barrington and George was demolished speculatively around 1990 for an office block that was never built. It's really too bad. Arguably the only reason why that site is still empty today is that the province owns it. Unfortunately the three levels of government own a lot of vacant land in Halifax. They are slow to sell off land they don't need.

The old TD building was kind of interesting but I think the new tower will be much nicer.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by cormiermax

From what iv seen, a lot of the houses that Scotia Square replaced where sandstone buildings similar to the house next to the TD building. If what iv seen is true this could have been a huge asset to the city, even if it was at the time a slum. I would have preferred that area stay a slum until a time where people started to appreciate buildings from that era and they could be properly rejuvenated, rather than demo the hole thing and plop down some ugly concrete blocks.

This is an inaccurate statement. Most of the area covered by SS were rat-infested wood frame houses - part of the motivation for the development in the first place. Photos have been posted here in the past.

[JET]

http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/built...ves.asp?ID=131
with this website you can scroll in with fairly good resolution
previous and next photos also have shots from the scotia square area;
one shot has one of the old ferries

[cormiermax]

Originally Posted by JET

http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/built...ves.asp?ID=131
with this website you can scroll in with fairly good resolution
previous and next photos also have shots from the scotia square area;
one shot has one of the old ferries

Thats the picture I saw that made me think that area had a lot of potential, seems a lot of the buildings looked interesting.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

This is an inaccurate statement. Most of the area covered by SS were rat-infested wood frame houses - part of the motivation for the development in the first place. Photos have been posted here in the past.

Here are a couple of links to the NS archives site that give an example of what kind of buildings Keith is referring to:

http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/built...ves.asp?ID=133

http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/built...ves.asp?ID=134

I'm sure there would have been a few interesting old buildings here and there, but the majority appears to be run-down wooden structures that probably couldn't have been saved anyways. My Dad grew up on the part of Grafton St. that was razed to build Scotia Square and from the way he talked about his old neighborhood even back to the '40s, it sounded like it was a pretty rough area.

While I am a real fan of old ("heritage") buildings as well as old cars, I have come to realize that you can't save them all, but you can and should save the good ones to be appreciated by future generations.

The fact is when these heritage buildings were built, many were not considered anything special as they were built to fulfill a purpose to the owners at the time. In my opinion, what makes a heritage building special is that it has survived a century or two, preserving building methods and styles of the past and standing testament to the care and craftsmanship put into buildings of previous eras that have been lost to today's "mass-production" building style. If the building exhibits a particularly interesting or even typical style for the era in which it was built, and if it has weathered the years in good condition, then by all means it should be saved. Again, in my opinion, if it was a less-than mediocre building when new and is now a rat-infested health hazard that is beyond saving, then you may as well tear it down and create new history. The trick, I think, is knowing where to draw the line between what should be saved and what shouldn't (and opinions will vary ).

That being said, hopefully today's buildings, if well executed, will be tomorrow's heritage buildings and will hopefully be a testament to our time on the planet for future generations to appreciate and learn from.

Again, just my opinion...

[someone123]

Here's a good picture of the "Pentagon Building" that once existed on what is now the triangle-shaped lot by Scotia Square. Its demolition seems really pointless now given that Granville is pedestrian-only. The smaller building in the background was also interesting and it was torn down around 1960 during the clearance in that area. These buildings all share the same design elements because they were built in the late 1850s after a fire destroyed the old wooden buildings in the area. I believe that the building visible on the far right is the Clayton garment factory. At one point that was the largest factory of its kind in Canada.


Source

[cormiermax]

Such a shame.

[fenwick16]

That was a real loss. It is such an interesting building. On the other hand, I wonder how practical the design would be for modern day offices since the floor heights look quite low - probably only 8 - 9 feet per storey. It is possible that the interior ceiling heights were only about 7 feet high since most people were shorter back then.

[Keith P.]

I believe that was closer to the harbour than near Scotia Square - more like in the area covered by the Cogswell interchange near the Marriott Harbourfront hotel. Notice how flat the surrounding area is. SS is more hilly. It was demolished in the early 1960s - I remember seeing this as a small child.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I believe that was closer to the harbour than near Scotia Square - more like in the area covered by the Cogswell interchange near the Marriott Harbourfront hotel. Notice how flat the surrounding area is. SS is more hilly. It was demolished in the early 1960s - I remember seeing this as a small child.

The brick building on the left still exists. It is the eastern facade of one of the Granville Mall buildings.

Here's the same spot today: http://goo.gl/maps/9to0T

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by someone123

Here's a good picture of the "Pentagon Building" that once existed on what is now the triangle-shaped lot by Scotia Square. Its demolition seems really pointless now given that Granville is pedestrian-only. The smaller building in the background was also interesting and it was torn down around 1960 during the clearance in that area. These buildings all share the same design elements because they were built in the late 1850s after a fire destroyed the old wooden buildings in the area. I believe that the building visible on the far right is the Clayton garment factory. At one point that was the largest factory of its kind in Canada.


Source

I think the street to the left of the triangular building is Buckingham Street. I think that the triangular building might be in this blown up image (below). The source of this image is here (NS Archives) - http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/Built...ves.asp?ID=131 . You can zoom into the area just north of the Morses Teas building (I used the City Hall building for a reference to find the right area). This image is from 1935



Here is another perspective of what I believe is the same building (below): (source: http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/Rogers/album.asp?ID=42 )


It is interesting that the NS Archives refers to this block as the pentagon block since the building was five-sided. The building is shown in this 1878 map of Halifax (source: http://ia700208.us.archive.org/2/ite...cihm_13042.pdf )


Here is another view of the pentagon building (Brown Brothers) looking north on Granville Street in 1871 - (source: http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/Rogers/album.asp?ID=36). This street looks quite similar today, except that the pentagon building is gone - http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=halifax...2.88,,0,-17.72



I really find looking up information on historic buildings to be fascinating. I wish that I could go back in time to the late 1800's for a few days to explore old Halifax.

[cormiermax]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

I really find looking up information on historic buildings to be fascinating. I wish that I could go back in time to the late 1800's for a few days and explore old Halifax.

I often day dream about doing this.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by someone123

The brick building on the left still exists. It is the eastern facade of one of the Granville Mall buildings.

Here's the same spot today: http://goo.gl/maps/9to0T

Yes, exactly. It is just northwest of the Morses Tea building across from the Marriott in the area covered by the Cogswell interchange.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by someone123

The brick building on the left still exists. It is the eastern facade of one of the Granville Mall buildings.

Here's the same spot today: http://goo.gl/maps/9to0T

In the Street View image the Granville Mall gate would have been on Buckingham Street and the top of the stairway to the pedway would have been close to the small face of the triangular building (or actually pentagonal building - Brown Brothers building)

[bluenoser]

I think that building is also visible in the top left corner of this photo:

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...55353643_n.jpg

[bluenoser]

By the way, the 'Vintage Halifax' facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/VintageHalifax) has compiled a lot of great old Halifax and area photos. Here are a few samples:

Fixing up the Halifax welcome sign under Fairview Overpass, May 1953:

http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...63122562_n.jpg

Spring Garden Road area, late 1920s:

http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...50568630_n.jpg

[B]Spring Garden & Queen (looking West), 1962[:B]

http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...37345509_n.jpg

Scotia Square / Cogswell Interchange construction, 1967 (in turn from the NS Archives)

http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...82200541_n.jpg

Delta Barrington (?) construction in 1978:

http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...08069718_n.jpg

Downtown Dartmouth, 1988 (also from the NS Archives):

http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...20245036_n.jpg

[bluenoser]

...and I already posted this in the Nova Centre thread but anyway... Looking East down Sackville in early 1940s wartime Halifax.


http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...23909007_n.jpg

I wish Halifax still had one of those cool old rooftop signs like on top of the Herald building. I think there are still some prominent ones in West coast cities like Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. Also in Winnipeg's Exchange District. I'm sure they exist elsewhere too...