Quote:
Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark
The Waterside was well done, but also remember there was nothing done to preserve the 1840 building that housed the Sweet Basil Bistro - it was demolished as a shot across the bow to those who were fighting for preservation of the other buildings that were eventually stripped of their character and left to be lipstick on a glass box. They did preserve the facades well, even though there is now no life behind them...
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That's an interesting take on it. You're referring to the Violet Clarke building, which was not a registered heritage property, the City of Halifax's Landmarks Commission having specifically excluded it along with several others, saying "although these buildings were of interest, it was not felt that they had sufficient architectural and/or historic merit to include their names in the list of buildings recommended for designation”.
It's hard to see its demolition by Armour as a "shot across the bow" to heritage advocates, since it was unique among the buildings included in the Waterside development as the only one
without heritage status. There wasn't a damn thing they could do to stop the demolition. They
did have relevant arguments to make about the other buildings (though ultimately, when litigated, they didn't prevail).
My understanding at the time was that there was literally nothing that could have been done with the building except maintain it exactly as it was or demolish it. There was no economically feasible way for Armour to convert it to a different use within its development.
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