General Updates and News

[JET]

Originally Posted by beyeas

Which one is Fat Franks?

http://www.halifaxhistory.ca/WineDine.html
a walk down memory lane
Fat Franks was at 5411 Spring Garden Road, brio swimwear still there?
nice character building, to the west of what was Thackery's and later a bagel place.

[DigitalNinja]

IMO the facade of the front of the TD building looks ok as well in the nice sandstone, would be nice to have the facades kept of both of these buildings and then just build the 7 story behind them...

[fenwick16]

Here is a Bing Map link as a point of reference - http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=rf6...0nova%20scotia .

The BMO building certainly looks good. I can't say that the TD building is very appealing to me. The brick buildings at the corner of Brunswick and Spring Garden also have a lot of character.

If even just the BMO bank could be saved then it would greatly add to the development. However, if it is only the facade then how beneficial is it? I wonder it the bank interior could also be saved?

[Keith P.]

I found 2 old renderings for the BMO site on SGR and Queen. Neither of these match and I suspect neither will be built as shown.

Here is the first, from the front side. This seems to date from a time before he acquired the entire block and so includes only the BMO building. I believe at the time he was thinking about a boutique hotel for the site:




Here is a different rendering, from the rear perspective. For reference, that is the NSLC Port of Wines in the edge of the frame on the left:

[cormiermax]

That 2nd render looks great.

[beyeas]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Here is a different rendering, from the rear perspective. For reference, that is the NSLC Port of Wines in the edge of the frame on the left:

Interesting that he seems to think he also owns Doyle street and can block it off.

[JustinMacD]

Originally Posted by beyeas

Interesting that he seems to think he also owns Doyle street and can block it off.

That actually might be a nice little street to turn into a pedestrian walkway.

Looks beautiful.

Like everyone else though, I love the BMO sandstone building the way it is.

[Empire]

Originally Posted by beyeas

Interesting that he seems to think he also owns Doyle street and can block it off.

The second rendering is not bad. However, to destroy this block for a mediocre HFX developer is an outrage. In no measure is this progress, just as Waterside is not progress. There has never been a heritage program that worked in HRM. A $2000 award for a paint job and a new awning doesn't protect our valued assets.

If you look at the first rendering it demonstrates how pathetic our system is. Just the fact that someone would propose a mess like that shows how much we need to improve. Let's see what the Design Review Committee is made of.

1st Rendering

2nd Rendering
[/QUOTE]

Eroding Sandstone
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...2,26.83,,0,-10

[kph06]

The second rendering is featured on the DRSA Envision website, they were named the architect for this project. So that might be close to the proposal coming out this spring.

[Dmajackson]

NDP bill would shore up heritage buildings
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
Wed, Dec 1 - 3:33 PM

The Nova Scotia government is proposing legislation it says is aimed at providing more protection to historic buildings and other properties.
The primary change to the Heritage Property Act would increase the time period under which demolitions or structural changes to heritage properties could proceed, from one to three years.

Culture and Heritage Minister Percy Paris says the move would allow more time for municipalities, developers and property owners to discuss what should ultimately be done.

The government says it would also increase the penalty for companies that alter or demolish a registered heritage property without permission from $100,000 to $250,000.

Another change would protect abandoned or neglected historic buildings from being deregistered as heritage properties.

The Chronicle Herald Article

[someone123]

I hope there are other changes, because the ones listed in that article aren't very helpful. Landlords have been holding on to half-empty heritage buildings for decades. Do they really care if they have to wait 3 years or 1 year to demolish? The only difference there is that the public gets an extra 2 years to look at a neglected, boarded up building.

The only way to "fix" heritage buildings is to attach funding or development bonuses to them. This is because, inherently, we are asking private developers to pay for a benefit to the public. Heritage properties generally aren't worth as much to the owners as they are to society at large.

I'm still wondering where the Herald finds the room temperature IQ crowd for its comments ("Tax and spend NDP destroyed my Ultramar!" - it would be hard to invent this stuff).

[Empire]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

NDP bill would shore up heritage buildings
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
Wed, Dec 1 - 3:33 PM



The Chronicle Herald Article

That's a pretty good first baby step. The problem still exists......you can demolish a registered heritage property if you wait long enough. Waterside is the prime example whereby all buildings were registered heritage buildings and now it looks like Berlin 1945. There is no excuse for this mess, either by HRM, the province and especially Ben McCrae.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by someone123

I'm still wondering where the Herald finds the room temperature IQ crowd for its comments ("Tax and spend NDP destroyed my Ultramar!" - it would be hard to invent this stuff).

Is that in celsius or fahrenheit someone

Great comment BTW

[JET]

Originally Posted by Empire

That's a pretty good first baby step. The problem still exists......you can demolish a registered heritage property if you wait long enough. Waterside is the prime example whereby all buildings were registered heritage buildings and now it looks like Berlin 1945. There is no excuse for this mess, either by HRM, the province and especially Ben McCrae.

It would be interesting to know if vacant bldgs, empty lots have a lower tax rate than developed properties. Having a high tax rate would be a motivator to maintain properties

[beyeas]

I think the Saleh's point is fair (that slowly down the demo period makes sense, but not necessarily slowly down the ability to make a significant reno application).

Mostly though, what is really needed here is the two pronged approach of a) a disincentive to get rid of these buildings through making it not beneficial tax-wise to knock them down and leave the as empty lots, and b) a positive incentive through providing financial breaks of some form for having preserved/refurbished them (to, as someone else said on here, acknowledge the fact that this is in the public interest and that we are asking a developer to spend his/her own money). A 'real' Heritage Trust would be actively working to provide positive incentives like this, rather than simply being in negative reactive mode.

[JET]

along the theme of renovating old properties; there is a five story apartment building on the corner of north and gottingen that I've always liked. They are putting all new windows in and red hardie siding on the outside. It also looks they will be putting small balconies on both sides of the front floors (and probably taking down the front fire escape/balconies) this is one property that someone could have argued was 'not up to code/not worth restoring'; tore it down and put up something new. It's a neat place and great that it is a reno instead of a raze.

[JET]

sorry duplicate

[sdm]

Originally Posted by Empire

That's a pretty good first baby step. The problem still exists......you can demolish a registered heritage property if you wait long enough. Waterside is the prime example whereby all buildings were registered heritage buildings and now it looks like Berlin 1945. There is no excuse for this mess, either by HRM, the province and especially Ben McCrae.

Ben McCrea has done more for heritage buildings in this city then anyone else Empire.

[JET]

Originally Posted by sdm

Ben McCrea has done more for heritage buildings in this city then anyone else Empire.

I hate to quibble, but did you mean to say heritage facades?

[sdm]

Originally Posted by JET

I hate to quibble, but did you mean to say heritage facades?

Historic Properties isn't facades