[Halifax] Press Block | ? m | 9 fl | U/C

[someone123]

Just happened to see this picture and I thought it nicely illustrated how much potential this spot has but how it's in a compromised state right now, held back by a couple of problems:


Source

Too bad the old Royal Bank building was torn down. The old Bank of Montreal looked interesting too. Not very large but with a grand entrance much more impressive than what the modern office tower has.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by someone123

Just happened to see this picture and I thought it nicely illustrated how much potential this spot has but how it's in a compromised state right now, held back by a couple of problems:

I'm curious about what you are referring to, i.e. "a couple of problems".

Originally Posted by someone123

Too bad the old Royal Bank building was torn down. The old Bank of Montreal looked interesting too. Not very large but with a grand entrance much more impressive than what the modern office tower has.

I agree with you, although I recognize that, as assets of major banking orgainizations, there would have been virtually zero chance of not redeveloping the sites for sparkling new office towers, especially in the 1960s and 70s. I do wonder sometimes how the Bank of NS resisted redeveloping that gem of a building on Hollis St, and am thankful that they didn't. I am also happy that the old Bank of Commerce building still exists, though I do sometimes wonder if it will continue to survive as downtown redevelopment opportunities continue to be used up, and there's a good chance it could just be seen as a new opportunity (I was inside the building when it was Elephant and Castle, and it still had retained its elegant ceiling and other decorative touches from that era of banking).

I was wondering when those buildings were torn down, and though I haven't yet found any pics showing the existence of those buildings near end-of life (perhaps in the 1960s?), I have found pics that included the BMO and RBC buildings during construction:

Royal Bank (January 1968):

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Bank of Montreal (labeled as 1970):

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I agree that the old Bank of Montreal building, although relatively small, was somewhat grand in appearance, as was the style that they the bank followed at the time. A smaller, more quaint version still exists in Lunenburg, showing a similar architectural flavour:

https://goo.gl/maps/cchzx3w3NpKcnKJ37

[someone123]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I'm curious about what you are referring to, i.e. "a couple of problems".

The empty buildings and empty lot around the Dennis Building and Acadian Recorder and the parking at the north end of the Province House block are the two I was thinking of.

[Good Baklava]

Originally Posted by someone123

parking at the north end of the Province House block are the two I was thinking of.

I’d prefer to have the Boer war memorial remain in place and visible. Only thing I would change there is to beautify the parking lot with some stonework, landscaping, or something to pay better homage to the statue while keeping the utility of parking space. Something similar to what it looks like in the old photo, but probably with more stone suitable for occasional parking.

I guess you were saying building around the parking lot and beautifying it would give a better “plaza” feel.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Good Baklava

I guess you were saying building around the parking lot and beautifying it would give a better “plaza” feel.

The fixes are building Press Block and doing landscaping to the north side similar to what happened on the south side, which I think is already planned for the future.

It's too bad this has taken so long but nice that progress is being made now.

These fine-grained blocks and plazas or squares like around Province House and the Grand Parade can really be ruined by missing buildings around their periphery or parking.

One day I hope the Grand Parade will basically be overhauled and the layout of monuments and furniture upgraded and/or simplified. It has a mix of higher and lower quality elements, like the old granite staircases and lampposts versus the wooden picnic tables and the arch that was added a few years back.

One idea is to eventually connect up George Street, the Grand Parade, Province House, Granville Mall (plus the new space to be built near there for Cogswell), and the waterfront to the Argyle quasi-pedestrianized area. Maybe with it all becoming pedestrian-first at times.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by someone123

The empty buildings and empty lot around the Dennis Building and Acadian Recorder and the parking at the north end of the Province House block are the two I was thinking of.

OK, I see. I misunderstood what you meant. I thought you meant problems that might prevent Press Block from being successful, rather than problems that will be fixed by building Press Block

[OldDartmouthMark]

Another old pic of how the Barrington block looked in a 1924 foldout:



https://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/...ml?key=5002902

[Haliguy]

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2244818

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2244818

Another positive aspect of this project!

It's interesting that people appear to care more about that mural than they do about the historic buildings that are about to have only their facades remaining. One commenter appeared to look at the new development as a negative because it will cover up the mural.

In 100 years, when they tear down this development to repurpose the lot for a new 50 storey highrise, this mural will be uncovered again and people of the time will wonder if all Haligonians were on hallucinogenics way back in the 2000s...

[Keith P.]

The previous mural of the tall ships was one that helped cement my dislike for murals generally and my thinking that they need some kind of vetting/approval process by HRM before being permitted. Bad murals are legion here lately and many are like a poke in the eye when one passes them. I never cared for the current fishy one either although it was better than the previous one.

[kph06]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2244818

Minor side note, in the last clip of the video, it looked like a tower crane section was going by, I suspect that is headed to the Mills Block as the base went in a couple weeks ago.

[Summerville]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

The previous mural of the tall ships was one that helped cement my dislike for murals generally and my thinking that they need some kind of vetting/approval process by HRM before being permitted. Bad murals are legion here lately and many are like a poke in the eye when one passes them. I never cared for the current fishy one either although it was better than the previous one.

While I am looking forward to the development, I'll miss the mural. I love murals, as they add colour to blank walls in the city...I don't think that I'm the only one.

https://www.allcitycanvas.com/en/the...l-city-canvas/

[atbw]

Originally Posted by kph06

Minor side note, in the last clip of the video, it looked like a tower crane section was going by, I suspect that is headed to the Mills Block as the base went in a couple weeks ago.

It's likely, as I saw the tower section had gone up when I was past there this morning.

[Summerville]

Hoarding is now going up around the property and all of the buildings appear to be gutted.

[Jstaleness]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2244818

Yes Bruce, that 9 storey building will "tower" over the surrounding area... So dramatic.

[TheNovaScotian]

.

[mleblanc]

Originally Posted by TheNovaScotian

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-...land-1.6144592

This issue has been downplayed constantly and boiled over yesterday.
Our inefficient land-use patterns are partially to blame.

Anyone got any "out of the box" ideas that could get shovels in the ground quickly?

You all, know what my answer is.

I don't know if the Press Block post is the best medium for this discussion TBH; I can easily see this taking over the thread pretty quickly, so feel free to move if needed.. but yeah, I think that a lot of this anti-development mindset we see here stems from useless "news" articles like above...

It's pretty ironic that CTV is on air condemning development of an empty lot over a mural, while 20+ were pepper sprayed, beaten, and arrested while protesting the housing crisis we're facing a few blocks away.

EDIT: just saw that the news article isn't as recent as I thought, oops. Still, my position stands over media painting much needed development in bad light while we're facing such a housing crisis over a silly mural.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by mleblanc

I don't know if the Press Block post is the best medium for this discussion TBH; I can easily see this taking over the thread pretty quickly, so feel free to move if needed.. but yeah, I think that a lot of this anti-development mindset we see here stems from useless "news" articles like above...

No, it isn't. But the comment regarding the way certain members of the media pander to the negative voices *cough*PamBerman*cough* is certainly relevant.

But the entire brouhaha over "affordable housing" (which in a lot of the cases means "free") is far more complex than just the usual Halifax anti-development activists and the council members who pander to them. Housing of all types is in short supply and is seeing skyrocketing prices throughout North America due to a whole bunch of factors. It is hardly a local phenomenon. Building sheds and plunking them in highly visible public spaces was a strategic move by the Mutual Aid Halifax activists to shame govts into doing something, but the kinds of supports the people camped out in parks want are very different from those who are productive members of society and find themselves getting priced out of the market.

[someone123]

Yes, maybe it's best for the general affordable housing discussions to go somewhere else, like in a new thread under "Business, Politics & the Economy". This section is for project-oriented construction discussion.

[someone123]

Looks like prep work for this is really coming along. I am seeing pictures of the Dennis and Acadian Recorder buildings stripped down a lot. The glass blocks have been removed from the Acadian Recorder. It could end up looking a lot nicer than it was.

I'm still not sure what the layout of this development is like or how the 2 reused/facaded buildings will function. I think one big question is whether they have real entrances and internal space (e.g. 1 storefront that you get to through the entrance in the Acadian Recorder facade). Doing this is a bit challenging and seems like it will add to the complexity of the layout.

I'm also curious how the new facades will turn out. If they are high quality stone they will look okay. I am not a big fan of the style where holes get filled in with abstract modernist representations of historic buildings (low detail blocks with setbacks/gaps), but then again it's challenging to recreate detailed historic facades and this isn't the spot for punchier modernist architecture.