Thanks for sharing the pics, ns_kid.
It occurs to me when looking at them, that there is probably nobody still alive who remembers that last time this building was an empty shell, when it burnt in 1912 (the pic I posted above). It always saddens me a little when a structure that has managed to survive for over a century (and parts of it 160 years) is reduced to lipstick on a new building, but so be it. At least there will be some memory of it left over and above old photographs. Might even prompt some people in the future to look up the long history that this building endured.
Beyond that, your photos reveal the uncovering (by demolition) of what appears to be a steel I-beam structure. I hadn't really thought much of it before, but when the first 4-storey iteration of the building was completed in 1862, the inner supporting structures would likely have been large wooden beams and columns, with stone and masonry comprising the outer walls. At some point an extra floor was added, but I've never found any reference as to when, why, and how this was done.
The fire of 1912 ,which appeared to have been quite severe as it
burned a large section of the block, would likely have completely burned out any wooden structure inside the building - which is illustrated by the photo which seems to show only emptiness remaining inside.
Steel building structure was still relatively new to Halifax, with the
first steel structured building having been completed in 1894. I'm a little in awe at the scope of this project for the time and am thinking it must have been a fairly big deal in local architecture and building circles in 1912. I'm also concluding that adding the extra 3 floors on top of the original 4-storey shell was done because this 'new' technology now allowed stone/masonry buildings to be built higher than in the past.
I'm also impressed that there must have been some admiration of stone building construction at the time (despite Halifax's apparent lack of respect for old buildings that developed later in the century), as one would think it would have perhaps been easier to just level the remains and start over. But they didn't do that, and in fact added 3 storeys that were faced with different materials, but IMHO were respectful to the existing materials and led to what I think was an attractive (and likely imposing for the time) building.
A little sad to see the structure no longer surviving, but am happy that something is being done with that perpetually blank lot...
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