Quote:
Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark
Unfortunately there are many people in the world who don't have the ability to understand the importance of historic structures. You can't teach it to them, they will never get it. Some are just uber-practical and some just plain don't understand and don't want to understand. They have no vision - they just see something old and can't picture the potential in the building - just tear it down and build something new, keeping in step with the rest of our throw-away society that has helped put the world in the state it is in now.
Then there are those who feel that making the most money possible is the only thing of importance, regardless of its effect on the rest of the population or the city in general. Philanthropists they are not.
For some reason, Halifax seems to have a higher percentage of all those mentioned above than other cities. It's perplexing that a city with such a long and rich history (for North America, anyhow) has so many people who don't know enough to appreciate it. Shameful, really.
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It depends on the building being torn down. The one being torn down at 1363 Hollis Street doesn't get much appreciation because it is a rather unattractive building that isn't even that old. Replacing it with something attractive and new, as in the rendering below (originally posted by Jonovision), is easy to accept.
In my opinion, these are a couple of great re-purposed complexes -
https://haligonia.ca/rbc-waterside-c...ater-st-82074/ and
http://doorsopenhalifax.com/founders-square/ . Although some consider these complexes to be facadism, the streetscape was saved, and old, poorly functioning buildings were replaced with modern, useful buildings. There are many cities where the old buildings would have been demolished.
There are buildings that should be saved. The building that the Halifax AGNS is located in, is a beautiful, old building but even so, there are people who want a new, bigger, modern building which will leave a beautiful, historic building vacant. In my opinion, that is the type of building that people should be supporting.
Overall, in spite of some mistakes, Halifax in 2017 is a far more attractive city than Halifax in the early 1970's (which is the earliest that I can remember the city). I remember the old ferries, which were fun to take across the Harbour and while the old ferry terminals were somewhat decrepit, they were welcoming like an entrance gate to an old stadium with its turnstiles. Purdy's wharf was an actual wharf and warehouse, but it was nowhere near as impressive as the current Purdy's Wharf office complex. In the early 1970's Halifax didn't have its current boardwalk, which has made the harbour-front accessible and is enjoyed by locals and tourists. In short, Halifax has lost some old buildings, and made some mistakes such as the Scotia Square super-block and Cogswell Interchange, but even so, it is a far more attractive and interesting city than it was in the early 1970's. Let's give the city leaders credit for being progressively minded in its desire to tear down the Cogswell Interchange and restore the street grid, and for all the other great changes that the city has seen over the past 40 plus years. Cheers to Halifax, a great city that keeps becoming even better.