Thanks, fenwick, Keith and cormiermax for sharing the fascinating pics.
I am afraid I am old enough to have some recollection of the neighbourhoods buried under Scotia Square and I don't think that "slum" is an unfair description.
It is an interesting sociological question why Africville, which was an impoverished, underserviced community but home to a proud African NS population, is so celebrated today, while these largely white working-class streets, also bulldozed by the city in the name of urban renewal, are largely forgotten and unmourned.
It's worth noting that some of the pictures Keith shares date from the 1940s. (The tram car and rails were gone by the summer of 1949.) I don't believe conditions improved over the ensuing 15-20 years. I cannot recall many structures on these blocks that would have been conducive to restoration or repurposing.
The hobby shop whose sign is visible in fenwick's photo at the corner of Barrington Street and Duke, just in front of the NSLP trolleycoach, was a favourite Saturday stop for my dad and me in those pre-Scotia Square days. (It survives, incidentally, as Maritime Hobbies on Grafton Street.) As a kid I was fascinated by the Peppermint Lounge and its blinking neon candy cane, also clearly visible just a couple of doors further up the street. I have less recollection of the tavern on the opposite side of Barrington. Sadly, by the time I was old enough to get to know these legendary Halifax drinking dens more intimately, the Peppermint was gone.
Say what you will about the merits of Scotia Square, the streets it replaced were mourned by virtually no one at the time.
Last edited by ns_kid; Apr 27, 2015 at 3:45 PM.
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