Morse's Tea Building Signage

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by spaustin

In case you missed it, I actually did a piece on this for Spacing Atlantic. We've been over a lot of it in the thread, but I thought I would share.

http://spacing.ca/atlantic/2013/11/2...-tea-building/

I agree 100% with your article. Well stated.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by scooby074

I agree 100% with your article. Well stated.

I agree as well!

[JET]

yep, either put it back the way it was, or put 'Jerusalem warehouse' on all sides; and if they balk, fine their asses

[JET]

oops,

[fenwick16]

I think Starfish should be presented with a civic award for the great renovation job that they did on the old building. Telling them that they can't display tenant names seems like throwing sand in their faces for a restoration job well done.

Creating too many obstacles to heritage restoration might be counterproductive. I doubt that there is a lot of money to be made from restoring old buildings.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

...I doubt that there is a lot of money to be made from restoring old buildings.

The Morse's Teas name is what the building is currently known by. Hasn't been called the Jerusalem Warehouse for more than 100 years. In fact, the painted on signage did not happen until the building was Morse's. In my opinion, the cachet of the building is closely tied to the sign in its most recent form. That cachet could be used by a thoughtful developer to leverage value.

I think the "offer" of Starfish to re-brand the building on one side as Jerusalem Warehouse is a strategic move - by making plain the fact that the building has changed names before it makes it harder to argue against allowing the name to be changed to "Staples" or "Dollarama" or "Tim Horton's".

I don't think the developer can be excused for altering an aspect of the building that he knew was "character defining." Seems unthoughtful... and the act of an absentee landlord.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

I think Starfish should be presented with a civic award for the great renovation job that they did on the old building. Telling them that they can't display tenant names seems like throwing sand in their faces for a restoration job well done.

Creating too many obstacles to heritage restoration might be counterproductive. I doubt that there is a lot of money to be made from restoring old buildings.

MMM, there's a LOT of money to be made from heritage restorations, if you approach it with the right tenant strategy. I imagine given the location, the heritage cachet, and the relatively high-end tenant, Starfish isn't exactly losing cash on the building.

But I do agree to some extent that the actual restoration is the most important thing here: What Starfish did was sneaky and possibly illegal, and I don't really see what value it is to the current tenant--the fact that it's a restaurant is pretty unmissable anyway. But I'm still not inclined to kick up a huge fuss. I'd rather have a beautifully restored building with the current tenant's name on it, than a ramshackle dump with the historically appropriate signage.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

I don't think the developer can be excused for altering an aspect of the building that he knew was "character defining." Seems unthoughtful... and the act of an absentee landlord.

Absolutely!!

The key phrase here is "character defining".

There was never a painted sign on the building saying "Jerusalem Warehouse". In fact, the two storey addition at the top wasn't added until Morse's Tea owned the building. The building was never "popularly" known as the Jerusalem Warehouse.

The Morse's Tea name does help to define the building in a Maritime (and Canadian) context. Tea is part of our heritage. There is a Red Rose Tea Building in Saint John NB. King Cole Tea is from Sussex NB. Tea is as Maritime in context as apple pie is to America!

[Hali87]

Something I don't quite understand is what happens when the tenants inevitably change? Are they going to repaint new signs every few years?

Tea is as Maritime in context as apple pie is to America!

Ahh.. that seems like a bit of a stretch. I associate tea more with England, or like, most countries in Asia, than I do with any part of Canada.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

But I'm still not inclined to kick up a huge fuss. I'd rather have a beautifully restored building with the current tenant's name on it, than a ramshackle dump with the historically appropriate signage.

I understand why people liked the old sign and why they'd be upset about the change, but what gives me pause here is the magnitude of the response when put in the context of other heritage and planning issues in the city.

When the Kelly Building came down down a few years ago there was barely a peep. Not many people are talking about the Dennis Building, or the fact that any heritage building could be torn down after waiting a couple of years. Instead, a disproportionate amount of attention is focused on what is really one part of a great restoration project.

Barrington Espace is similar in that people complain about how long it's taken while the NFB Building for example has been in its current state for 20 years.

[JET]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Something I don't quite understand is what happens when the tenants inevitably change? Are they going to repaint new signs every few years?



Ahh.. that seems like a bit of a stretch. I associate tea more with England, or like, most countries in Asia, than I do with any part of Canada.

You must be a city boy

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by JET

You must be a city boy

Yup.

There is ALWAYS a pot of tea on where Im from.

[Hali87]

I drink tea, but if someone asked me "where's the first place you think of when I say 'tea?'" my answer wouldn't be "Atlantic Canada, duh".
Wheras with apple pie I think it's most commonly associated with the US, regardless of where else it's popular.

Anyway this is getting kind of off topic and definitly semantic, my bad.

[JET]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I drink tea, but if someone asked me "where's the first place you think of when I say "tea?" my answer wouldn't be "Atlantic Canada, duh".

I'm thinking that you didn't grow up near any coal mining or fishing towns?

[MonctonRad]

Growing up on PEI, we always had a pot of tea on the old oil stove. The stove was always on (it was the prime heat source for the kitchen) and as the day went on, my mother would just add more teabags and more water into the pot so, by the end of the day, the tea was so strong you could walk on it!!!

Tea is part of our heritage therefore we have lost something with the demise of the Morse's Tea sign. The sign was the first thing you saw driving into downtown Halifax, and for some reason your eyes would tend to fixate on it. It will be missed.

One thing the sign would do for American tourists would be to remind them that they are not just driving into another generic American city. This is a Maritime city. This must be Halifax!!

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by JET

I'm thinking that you didn't grow up near any coal mining or fishing towns?

I grew up in Halifax.

All I meant is that Atlantic Canada doesn't seem to be the #1 place in the world for tea like the US is the #1 place in the world for apple pie. And in response to ^, wasn't tea big in New England as well? Boston Tea Party and all that?

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I grew up in Halifax.

All I meant is that Atlantic Canada doesn't seem to be the #1 place in the world for tea like the US is the #1 place in the world for apple pie. And in response to ^, wasn't tea big in New England as well? Boston Tea Party and all that?

I would have to agree with this. I had no idea tea was even strongly associated with Atlantic Canada until this conversation started lol. I've always associated tea with Asia.

[Jstaleness]

I have always associated Jerusalem with Israel. Not a warehouse

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by JET

I'm thinking that you didn't grow up near any coal mining or fishing towns?

It may not be so much an urban vs rural thing (I grew up in Charlottetown, although in fairness both my parents were from rural western PEI). It might be more of a generational thing.

I grew up in the 60's and having a cup of joe generally meant using a clunky percolator or having some tasteless instant coffee which wasn't very palatable. Coffee wasn't nearly as popular back then as it is now. Also, tea is very much a British drink and closely tied to their national character and prior to the 1960's, the ties to Great Britain here in Canada were much stronger than they are now. A cup of tea was a natural beverage given our heritage here in the Maritimes. Tea in the middle part of the last century really was very much a part of the social fabric in this country. It was affordable, easy to make and a pleasant diversion with friends.

In the 1960's Tim Horton was a hockey player and Starbuck was a character from Greek mythology. Second Cup meant that you wanted more tea!

I still think Morse's Tea is more meaningful to our Maritime heritage than "Jerusalem Warehouse". What does Jerusalem have to do with the Maritimes anyway?

The sign should be put back the way it was……

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

In the 1960's Tim Horton was a hockey player and Starbuck was a character from Greek mythology. Second Cup meant that you wanted more tea!

Starbuck was actually a character from Moby Dick. Incidentally, I learned this at trivia last night at a campus bar called the T-Room.

Full circle?