Quote:
Originally Posted by Jstaleness
On twitter this am I read a post about their direction. The church next to it is a recognized site yet looks about ready to be demolished itself. They'd be much better of going after the province for not funding those repairs as opposed to worrying about the "too tall" eight storey building next door. For years they've argued height as opposed to actual preservation. This took away any credibility they had in my opinion.
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As far as I know, the church is still owned by the Catholic diocese, which has left the funding for repairs to the staff of the church (which, ultimately, would be funded by donations). As a privately owned building, I don't think it would be appropriate for the Heritage Trust to lobby the province to fund the repairs, but they could lobby them to invoke incentives like tax breaks to assist them in restoration/repair.
I don't really understand their stance on blocking this development, given the three purple towers almost next door to this lot. I recall reading about a neighbor complaining about it, but the HT should really try to distance itself from NIMBY complaints, and instead build a fact-based argument for saving buildings that are at risk, rather than preventing a development that does not actually involve demolishing a heritage building. In the long run I believe this argument will fail anyhow, but only after wasting everybody's time.
Colin makes a good point, though, in that the HT is continually fighting winless battles due to the lack of conviction and political will of Halifax councillors towards protecting heritage buildings. Continually we still see them fall, with absolutely no action from council. It must be a depressing job to say the least.
As an aside, I visited the church a couple of years ago during Doors Open and learned a little about it. Yes, the structure has deteriorated over the years and the Catholic church organization has not provided sufficient funding to maintain/restore it. In fact, some granite ornamentation had to be removed from the spire to reduce the loading on it. The church needs major repairs.
My understanding at the time was that they were receiving donations (I donated a little that day) and that they did have a plan to shore up the structure so that it at least remains structurally sound. I haven't been back, nor have I heard any news as to how that is going.
As far as I know, it's still being used as a place to practice religion, so hopefully the members of the church are doing all they can to preserve the building.
The relatively conservative exterior of the church doesn't give many hints to the splendid architecture inside the church, with its gothic arches, woodwork, and ornamentation. It is definitely worth preserving IMHO, even if it ceases to be used as a church. I visited an example of a successful church repurposing earlier this summer in Wolfville:
The Church Brewing Company.
Here are a few photos from the Doors Open visit: