1592 Barrington | 22 m | 6 fl | Complete

[JET]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

One more...


Source:
http://novascotia.ca/archives/virtua...ves.asp?ID=160

Great find Mark, I really like that building, says 'brownstone, New York City' to me; I don't think there's anything similar in Halifax. well done

Now, I wonder what was between it and the KoC Hut?

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by JET

Great find Mark, I really like that building, says 'brownstone, New York City' to me; I don't think there's anything similar in Halifax. well done

Now, I wonder what was between it and the KoC Hut?

Yeah, that's very Greenwich Village/brownstone Brooklyn. What a massive shame. Barrington's a great street, but if we could have prevented a few key losses--this, the Capitol Theatre, and the half-block behind the Dennis Building--it's be noticeably more impressive. Oh well, that's history.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by JET

OK, but what is it? a stairwell?

Looks like the ground floor is an entranceway and 2nd through 4th the office space goes all the way across - so the brick and steel are just styling features.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by JET

Great find Mark, I really like that building, says 'brownstone, New York City' to me; I don't think there's anything similar in Halifax. well done

Now, I wonder what was between it and the KoC Hut?

It was kinda neat to find it - like a solved puzzle.

Given the fencing between the two buildings I'm inclined to think it was open space. Of course, now I'll have to try to find a picture...

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Yeah, that's very Greenwich Village/brownstone Brooklyn. What a massive shame. Barrington's a great street, but if we could have prevented a few key losses--this, the Capitol Theatre, and the half-block behind the Dennis Building--it's be noticeably more impressive. Oh well, that's history.

A big 10-4 on that good buddy. Would have been nice to have kept some of those buildings, but regardless - as you said it's history now.

That's the way it goes - once it's gone it's gone forever.

[Keith P.]

I think that *is* the old "Hell Hotel", no?

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Yeah, that's very Greenwich Village/brownstone Brooklyn. What a massive shame. Barrington's a great street, but if we could have prevented a few key losses--this, the Capitol Theatre, and the half-block behind the Dennis Building--it's be noticeably more impressive. Oh well, that's history.

It's totally NYC, and not just Lower East Side or the Village. Also reminds me of Brownstones on the Upper Westside too. It's New York City more generally, an iconic look.

What a true shame.

This is an awesome pic, by the way, Mark. Thanks for posting.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I think that *is* the old "Hell Hotel", no?

From what I've seen online, yeah--built as the Halifax Infirmary in 1903, before the Queen Street one, and then later used as a hotel. Abandoned when it burned down, but homeless people would often squat in it, and I guess the generally accepted idea is that someone lit a fire for warmth that got out of control.

People talk about Barrington being derelict now, but it seems to me (though I have no personal memory) that it'' got be better than it was in the 70s and early 80s, when the Capitol was a building like this was simply abandoned and left to fall down. Like a more derelict but just as skeezy version of Yonge Street.

[ILoveHalifax]

I had business in downtown Halifax in the 70's and 80's.
I could not get space on Barrington St as there were no empty stores. I actually did quite well on Granville which also had no empty spaces. Argyle and Blowers were also fully occupied.
There were people on the streets at all times and you had to line up for service in many stores.
Granville Mall and Barrington Place were fully occupied as was Scotia Square and Historic Properties. The bars and restaurants were packed both day and nite.

[ILoveHalifax]

Maritime Center was also fully occupied on both levels as well.

[visualman57]

Originally Posted by ILoveHalifax

Maritime Center was also fully occupied on both levels as well.

I worked in that area back in the late '70's and '80's and several of the retailers in the mall explained that retailers had to open in the Maritime Mall if they wanted to get into the better properties in Metro. That is why so many of the big national chains of the day opened there, and West End Mall. Once the leases expired, they were gone, and the Maritime Mall became a ghost town of local stores and services.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by ILoveHalifax

I had business in downtown Halifax in the 70's and 80's.
I could not get space on Barrington St as there were no empty stores. I actually did quite well on Granville which also had no empty spaces. Argyle and Blowers were also fully occupied.
There were people on the streets at all times and you had to line up for service in many stores.
Granville Mall and Barrington Place were fully occupied as was Scotia Square and Historic Properties. The bars and restaurants were packed both day and nite.

Ah, I see. Well, not what I've been told--most people I know who remember back then recall downtown as much seedier than it is now, especially Barrington below Spring Garden. I defer to your remembrance, though.

[ILoveHalifax]

Originally Posted by visualman57

I worked in that area back in the late '70's and '80's and several of the retailers in the mall explained that retailers had to open in the Maritime Mall if they wanted to get into the better properties in Metro. That is why so many of the big national chains of the day opened there, and West End Mall. Once the leases expired, they were gone, and the Maritime Mall became a ghost town of local stores and services.

My recollection was that West End Mall and Maritime Mall were different landlords, so I cannot imagine them working together.
In those days West End mall was as busy as any mall in the city; it was hard to get space there as well. When I took space in West End Mall there was no mention of Maritime Mall.

[ILoveHalifax]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Ah, I see. Well, not what I've been told--most people I know who remember back then recall downtown as much seedier than it is now, especially Barrington below Spring Garden. I defer to your remembrance, though.

Barrington south of Spring Garden was never a prime retail area. I remember one nite walking SGR to Barrington and turning left rather than right for safety concerns, but that aside I thought your original comments were about downtown Barrington. It was also much seedier north of Scotia Square.

[someone123]

My take on it is that the downtown was in serious decline compared to the suburbs by the 80's but that the recession and 90's were the catalysing force that actually caused a bunch of businesses to leave and produced the physical state Barrington was in prior to the recent construction. In retrospect the low point was around the late-90's and early 00's, when the damage was done but there was relatively little progress aside from a few small boutique type stores and MEC.

This timeline is a bit later than a lot of smaller American cities, which were trending downward even in the 40's and 50's, emptied out by the 60's, and were slowly improving in the 90's. Car ownership shot up much faster there, suburban development happened faster, and the 90's were a period of economic growth south of the border, whereas they were mostly a period of economic malaise here.

I think Barrington is markedly different today in that it's moving in a positive direction and there is a significant amount of new investment happening, even if the street today isn't dramatically busier than it was a couple years ago. Coincidentally, Urban Outfitters has been coming up again in the rumour mill; it sounds like they will actually be opening a store soon, and that it'll be fairly substantial. Once everything settles down I think the street will become significantly more vibrant, with a better mix of stores and a lot more foot traffic.

[ILoveHalifax]

I left in 87, there were a few closed at that time, including a bar. It seemed to me to be linked more to oil. There were a few oil companies leave at that time as well. I went to the states.
I was quite shocked to see it when I returned about 12 years ago and it has remained the same all that time.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

Coincidentally, Urban Outfitters has been coming up again in the rumour mill; it sounds like they will actually be opening a store soon, and that it'll be fairly substantial. Once everything settles down I think the street will become significantly more vibrant, with a better mix of stores and a lot more foot traffic.

Is UO back in the possible mix for Barrington? I thought they were at the shopping centre for sure.

Regardless, apparently Frank and Oak might set up soon on Barrington, so that'd be a pretty big deal too. It does fit into my impression that the future of the street will be a lot more upscale. With existing joints like Stillwell, Obladee, Grimsmo, Chives, etc., plus high-end condos like the Roy, and potentially at least a few high-end retailers (not that UO is high-end, but whatever, still a big draw), the state of the street could change very dramatically, very quickly.

Maybe it'll be enough to get the owner of the Green Lantern off his ass and fix/restore his building already. if he doesn't, it'll really stick out as a sore thumb in a few years, once the rest of the street is more fully restored and patched together.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Is UO back in the possible mix for Barrington? I thought they were at the shopping centre for sure.

The usual mystery source reported that they're spending $500k to build their store on Barrington.

It does fit into my impression that the future of the street will be a lot more upscale. With existing joints Stillwell, Obladee, Grimsmo, Chives, etc., plus high-end condos like the Roy, and potentially at least a few high-end retailers (not that UO is high-end, but whatever, still a big draw), the state of the street could change very dramatically, very quickly.

It's interesting that it seems to be flipping quickly but not much of a surprise. Some neighbourhoods have a lot of social problems (crime, substance abuse, poverty) and it is an uphill battle to get them to come back to life. Barrington isn't really like this; in fact it's pretty pleasant compared to a lot of big American cities or even parts of downtown Vancouver. People are eager to move into that neighbourhood and shop there. It's mostly just been mismanaged for a long time.

Maybe it'll be enough to get the owner of the Green Lantern off his ass and fix/restore his building already. if he doesn't, it'll really stick out as a sore thumb in a few years, once the rest of the street is more fully restored and patched together.

Yes, that building is pretty terrible. It has been like that since Hurricane Juan, which is now more than 10 years.

[Waye Mason]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

From what I've seen online, yeah--built as the Halifax Infirmary in 1903, before the Queen Street one, and then later used as a hotel. Abandoned when it burned down, but homeless people would often squat in it, and I guess the generally accepted idea is that someone lit a fire for warmth that got out of control.

People talk about Barrington being derelict now, but it seems to me (though I have no personal memory) that it'' got be better than it was in the 70s and early 80s, when the Capitol was a building like this was simply abandoned and left to fall down. Like a more derelict but just as skeezy version of Yonge Street.

Yes. It was in horrible disrepair. As I recall after it was knocked down a pile of bricks and debris just sat there for years. Before it caught fire the late Lou Cable would sneak in after work a couple times a week and "liberate" marble slabs from the operating room at the back of the building, a mutual friend told me he used them in the kitchen of his country place in Cornwall.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Is UO back in the possible mix for Barrington? I thought they were at the shopping centre for sure.

Regardless, apparently Frank and Oak might set up soon on Barrington, so that'd be a pretty big deal too. It does fit into my impression that the future of the street will be a lot more upscale. With existing joints like Stillwell, Obladee, Grimsmo, Chives, etc., plus high-end condos like the Roy, and potentially at least a few high-end retailers (not that UO is high-end, but whatever, still a big draw), the state of the street could change very dramatically, very quickly.

Maybe it'll be enough to get the owner of the Green Lantern off his ass and fix/restore his building already. if he doesn't, it'll really stick out as a sore thumb in a few years, once the rest of the street is more fully restored and patched together.

Yeah, I actually think Barrington has much more upscale potential than SGR, the latter is just too cluttered and has too narrow sidewalks.

Barrington is a lot more pretty, and you could easily see these newly renovated with heritage frontage shops, filling up with higher end retail. It could be Halifax's answer to the strip on Bloor street, from Bay to Yonge. I mean, it'll never be that nice or upscale, but it's more likely than SGR to make it happen.

By the way, BIG KUDOS to Frank and Oak if they do make a bet on downtown, especially Barrington. That's great that this Montreal store would look to invest downtown, rather than, as most international retailers have done, set up in the "safety" of these suburban malls or biz parks.

Seriously. It just takes some retailers or businesses with vision and willingness to take a bit a risk and the payoff could be great, for both the business and the city.