Quote:
Originally Posted by portapetey
Such a shame everything that was lost in the Explosion. We had a few buildings that might rival some of what you now see in the Old Port of Montreal.
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A lot of buildings were destroyed in the North End but just about everything survived downtown and in the South End. The old poor asylum burned down in 1882. Unfortunately, a lot of those big Victorian-era buildings were prone to fires.
Most of the heritage buildings were lost over decades due to the exact process we're seeing today with the Doyle Block and CBC Building. Back in the 1960's they were tearing down buildings from the mid-1800's and earlier. A lot of people argued that they were obsolete and run-down.
I agree that Halifax could have had an Old Montreal kind of area, particularly below Barrington Street and the harbour. Some of that could still be recaptured by doing things like restoring the Dennis Building and Province House grounds, etc. There are a couple of old buildings that might be worth reconstructing too, like the building that originally had the naval clock (from 1772). That would be a nice landmark for the waterfront. People really like the Morse's Teas building but it is only one of maybe 6 or 8 similar buildings (Cunard, Brown Brothers/Pentagon, and a few other unidentified ones) that were mostly demolished. Similarly there was a handful of Dennis Building type 7 storey narrow offices that were demolished. The stretch up Sackville Street, around Hollis and over to where the Maritime Centre is now was mostly 4-6 storey masonry office buildings that would be heritage buildings today.
The Great Pontack is another interesting old waterfront landmark (from 1754, played a role in the Seven Years' War, and apparently survived until at least 1925):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pontack_(Halifax)
Prince Edward also had a townhouse somewhere around the Citadel, maybe near Brunswick Street. I've never managed to find any pictures or drawings of it.
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