Quote:
Originally Posted by Drybrain
If the Maxwell's building is demolished, it'll be very unfortunate, but completely unsurprising. The building itself predates 1850 and is one of the very few old-Halifax character buildings around here. It was also one of the buildings that was listed for heritage registration last year in that big mass-heritage designation, that was gutted by council after property owners lost it over the supposed unfairness of having their buildings designated.
But, of course, the height limit here is 28 metres, so around 10 storeys, and if Dexel owns it, I can easily see it getting knocked down without a second thought. Dexel is one of the better developers in terms of quality of new builds, but is basically clueless about how to utilize historic resources to improve developments. Though that isn't unique--most of our major developers are horrendous at this. I don't have much faith that anything not nailed down with a heritage designation won't be ripped down, no matter its architectural quality, size, historic relevance, etc. (And sometimes even designated buildings are at risk. Recall Dexel's application to destroy registered heritage properties on Barrington, which fortunately seems to have passed.)
Of course, whatever happens here will almost by default have to be an improvement, since the block is so dire. But since the Maxwell's building only occupies like 5 percent of the developable area, it would be ideal if it were left alone, or more imaginatively used as a character-defining lynchpin for a new streetscape, rather than just getting casually knocked down so a handful more apartments can be built above it.
|
Well said, and I completely agree with every one of your points.
Sadly enough, it's true, and I've actually become quite despondent about heritage/landmark preservation in Halifax overall. On this board I used to be quite
whenever another heritage building was leveled or gutted, but now that's pretty much been snuffed out to a
reaction.
In this city, it's pretty much up to luck as to whether any aspect of any historical building will be saved, despite the historical nature of Halifax, and it seems that council is totally immersed in making us appear progressive (i.e. massive focus on bike lanes, zero focus on heritage preservation), while at the same time cavalierly holding up large developments on empty lots (see Richmond Yards thread) due to some inane personal preference or whatever - meanwhile people looking for places to live, or looking to change their living situation are still having a hard time finding anything while prices continue to rise. Don't get me wrong, I still think bike lanes/transit, etc., are very important, but it would be nice to see some balance here.
A person might say, well, perhaps you should form an advocacy group for heritage properties - but it has already been done (including one involving some members of the forum here) without success. In fact the Heritage Trust has become a target of mockery here, where nobody takes it seriously, and all the "friends of" groups have made anybody trying to preserve anything look like a bunch of dicks in the public's eyes, due to their apparent goal of preserving their own interests with often questionable logic.
Sigh...
Prev
Linear Mode
