[Halifax] RBC Waterside Centre | 37 m | 9 fl | Completed

[BravoZulu]

Originally Posted by Takeo

Kinda funny that Subway and Darrell's were both in this building side by side and now they are both on Fenwick street side by side.

correct me if I'm wrong, but they were both on fenwick before they were on hollis no?

[sdm]

Originally Posted by BravoZulu

correct me if I'm wrong, but they were both on fenwick before they were on hollis no?

correct, darrels was. Subway was downtown for sometime now, mid 90's i believe.

[Takeo]

Originally Posted by BravoZulu

correct me if I'm wrong, but they were both on fenwick before they were on hollis no?

Darrell's was... but I don't think Subway was. I don't know when Subway moved in there. I moved from the area maybe 2-3 years ago and as long as I'd lived there the corner unit was a flower shop. There was a pizza joint in one of those units too as I recall.

[Jonovision]

There was an excavator on site when I went by today.

[Dmajackson]

Building’s demolition makes ‘worst loss’ list
By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE City Hall Reporter
Sat. Oct 10 - 4:46 AM

A small wooden building demolished in Halifax’s Historic Properties almost a year ago has made Heritage magazine’s "worst losses" list.

The magazine, published quarterly by the Heritage Canada Foundation, mourned the destruction of the former Sweet Basil Bistro on Upper Water Street.

It was levelled in early November.

The 1840s structure was on the block where the Armour Group plans to develop its Waterside Centre. But the demolished building, which no longer had heritage property status, was not part of the planned redevelopment.

Waterside Centre will unify four adjacent historic buildings and two empty lots and add a glass office tower above them. Halifax regional council initially rejected the plan last October. But the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board overturned the decision, putting the development back in the hands of the municipal politicians.

Council approved it in a 13-1 vote in April.

Aside from the Halifax building, Heritage magazine’s worst losses list includes a church in Ridgetown, Ont., a hospital in Weyburn, Sask., and Ben’s delicatessen in Montreal.

The $16-million Armour Group project in downtown Halifax is also the subject of an article in the magazine by New Brunswick writer Charles Mandel.

"The company responsible for the demolition of the . . . building was the very same developer who originally helped preserve the Historic Properties and transformed them into the appealing street scene they offer today," Mr. Mandel writes.

The magazine published several photos of the site and a rendering of the Waterside Centre tower facing Upper Water Street.

"The issue of development in Canada’s historic neighbourhoods and districts is becoming increasingly contentious," the story says.

"Deciding on what is appropriate to save — while allowing modern design and intensification — is being hotly debated by municipal councils and conservation review bodies."

( mlightstone@herald.ca )

[hfx_chris]

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ

Building’s demolition makes ‘worst loss’ list
By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE City Hall Reporter
Sat. Oct 10 - 4:46 AM

A small wooden building demolished in Halifax’s Historic Properties almost a year ago has made Heritage magazine’s "worst losses" list.

The magazine, published quarterly by the Heritage Canada Foundation, mourned the destruction of the former Sweet Basil Bistro on Upper Water Street.

It was levelled in early November.

The 1840s structure was on the block where the Armour Group plans to develop its Waterside Centre. But the demolished building, which no longer had heritage property status, was not part of the planned redevelopment.

Waterside Centre will unify four adjacent historic buildings and two empty lots and add a glass office tower above them. Halifax regional council initially rejected the plan last October. But the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board overturned the decision, putting the development back in the hands of the municipal politicians.

Council approved it in a 13-1 vote in April.

Aside from the Halifax building, Heritage magazine’s worst losses list includes a church in Ridgetown, Ont., a hospital in Weyburn, Sask., and Ben’s delicatessen in Montreal.

The $16-million Armour Group project in downtown Halifax is also the subject of an article in the magazine by New Brunswick writer Charles Mandel.

"The company responsible for the demolition of the . . . building was the very same developer who originally helped preserve the Historic Properties and transformed them into the appealing street scene they offer today," Mr. Mandel writes.

The magazine published several photos of the site and a rendering of the Waterside Centre tower facing Upper Water Street.

"The issue of development in Canada’s historic neighbourhoods and districts is becoming increasingly contentious," the story says.

"Deciding on what is appropriate to save — while allowing modern design and intensification — is being hotly debated by municipal councils and conservation review bodies."

( mlightstone@herald.ca )

This organization isn't only trying to save heritage buildings but also almost every building ever built, including the Winnipeg International Airport, a Toronto hospital built in 1963, grain elevators, the recladding of 5 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, etc. ( http://www.heritagecanada.org/eng/fe...ent.html#worst ). I give them credit for trying to save places like St. Patrick"s Church in Halifax along with some other truly historic buildings. However, some of the buildings that are now on their lists would have been sites that they would have been fighting against when they were built 45-50 years ago.

[sdm]

Link to the list.

http://www.heritagecanada.org/eng/20...FinalListE.pdf

[Jonovision]

Demo work has officially begun. Scaffolding has been erected on one of the facades on Lower Water and a garbage chute is now running down the Hollis side. And there is a port-a-potty on site. lol

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

Demo work has officially begun. Scaffolding has been erected on one of the facades on Lower Water and a garbage chute is now running down the Hollis side. And there is a port-a-potty on site. lol

Noted. This is the kind of information that can come in very handy sometime around 2:00 am on Sunday morning.

[Empire]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

This organization isn't only trying to save heritage buildings but also almost every building ever built, including the Winnipeg International Airport, a Toronto hospital built in 1963, grain elevators, the recladding of 5 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, etc. ( http://www.heritagecanada.org/eng/fe...ent.html#worst ). I give them credit for trying to save places like St. Patrick"s Church in Halifax along with some other truly historic buildings. However, some of the buildings that are now on their lists would have been sites that they would have been fighting against when they were built 45-50 years ago.

Waterside is another story considering the buildings on site were built 100-150 years ago. I wonder if Ben McCrae went to the Anthony Tung lecture last night.

Losing the Look of
Halifax..............If you continue to build without thinking about making
positive relationships between new development and old buildings, you're
going to lose it. (Mr Tongue is an American)..amazed that Halifax with its
wealth of architecture didn't have a designated historic
district.........Halifax has resources that very few other cities
have......preserving and promoting heritage can draw businesses......

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Empire

Waterside is another story considering the buildings on site were built 100-150 years ago. I wonder if Ben McCrae went to the Anthony Tung lecture last night.

Losing the Look of
Halifax..............If you continue to build without thinking about making
positive relationships between new development and old buildings, you're
going to lose it. (Mr Tongue is an American)..amazed that Halifax with its
wealth of architecture didn't have a designated historic
district.........Halifax has resources that very few other cities
have......preserving and promoting heritage can draw businesses......

What are you blathering about? That is exactly what Waterside is all about.

[Empire]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

What are you blathering about? That is exactly what Waterside is all about.

Waterside is part of a designated Historic district because of this office building?

[fenwick16]

Halifax has been lucky to have developers who have preserved buildings (like the Historic Properties) with very little financial incentive from the three levels of government. It has also been lucky to have citizens with the foresight to prevent the building of the Harbourdrive freeway through downtown Halifax which would have been a disaster in cutting the city off from the harbour. I feel grateful to all the Halifax citizens who have fought to preserve historic buildings in Halifax.

I would actually like to see more buildings preserved as they are, however, to do this developers must be given rich incentives to do so; otherwise buildings will become abandoned and then basically fall apart through exposure to the common elements.

I hope that the Waterside Centre will turn out as well as Founders Square in downtown Halifax; I believe it was the same developer. To me, this is a good example of incorporating the new with the old.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

I would actually like to see more buildings preserved as they are, however, to do this developers must be given rich incentives to do so; otherwise buildings will become abandoned and then basically fall apart through exposure to the common elements.

I agree. I think it's totally valid to want to keep heritage buildings around, but we have to realize that preservation is mostly a diffuse benefit to the public, not a benefit for the owner of the property. Because of this, it doesn't make economic sense for the owners to spend a lot on preservation. If it is to happen in Halifax, some of the money has to come from the government.

Simplest thing to do would be to give a tax credit for registered properties and some small incentives for improvements that matter to the public (facade and public realm upgrades to landscaping etc.).

[Empire]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

I hope that the Waterside Centre will turn out as well as Founders Square in downtown Halifax; I believe it was the same developer. To me, this is a good example of incorporating the new with the old.

Founders Square is a good development. Some of the buildings like the Old Triangle Pub were keep in their entirety and the others had a 2ft facade saved. The end result works well in that setting. Montreal is very good at this type of development. They are also very good at recognizing what should be saved as is. (Old Montreal) The Waterside site is a missing link for a mini (Old Halifax). An area from the waterfront through Historic Properties, Waterside & Morses Tea , NSCAD ending at the Delta Barrington could have been that area. As we speak the Harrington building is being demolished. This building fronts on Hollis and Upper Water St. The long expanse of this wall is exposed ironstone that mirrors the ironstone wall of the Morses Tea building. The plan is to save 2ft. on Hollis & 2ft on Upper Water. The only thing we can hope for now is that the stone wall of the Morses Tea building is featured in some grand walkway/courtyard where the walkway used to be. This wall could be lighted up from Waterside and displayed through glassfrom the walkway. In the summer maybe the glass could open.

[hoser111]

Don't recall seeing these in this thread....my apologies if it's duplication. New(at least to me) renderings & 3-D walkaround here....

http://www.hpwatersidecentre.ca/floorplan.html

[someone123]

That's been posted but I don't remember looking at the 3-D walkaround before.

sdm mentioned changes to the design in another thread.. this building doesn't look too bad, but I dislike the blank wall above the Hollis Street entrance (I guess that's where the elevators go). I also wish they'd just put in glass at street level. I'm guessing there's a desire to use similar materials to the neighbours to fit in but glass is very "neutral" and can easily highlight nearby heritage buildings rather than detract from them.

[hoser111]

I kind of like rendering #2, with the step effect you get with Morses Tea, Waterside & 1801.

[Aya_Akai]

I was nearby today, and the roof of the former sweet basil building as well as the Darryls building is being removed.

Took a peek in the windows that aren't covered, there is a door between the old darryls and subway that when I looked in saw nothing but a tarped off stairwell and a pile of hundreds of asbestos disposal bags piles up ready to be removed...