Quote:
Originally Posted by Saul Goode
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.
|
I'm going totally by memory, so this could not be completely accurate, but what I recall from the situation was that there actually had been heritage designation for the building (it was built in the 1840s) but there was some kind of slip-up in the paperwork that made it invalid (don't know the details and I didn't have any info that wasn't available to the public).
The 'shot across the bow' was not my original idea, rather (IIRC) it was reported at the time that Armour was frustrated by the holdup caused by heritage advocates and thus sent the wrecking crew in without notice to bring down the building with the idea that the others could be next. Perhaps this was bravado or media click-generation, but that's how I remember it.
It sounds like you were actually involved in the situation, if that's the case I am not in a position to argue, nor do I want to, actually.
Regardless, it appeared to be yet another case where Halifax has lost a large portion of its various heritage buildings incrementally, to the point that there are really not that many intact examples yet, but quite a few facades remaining. This is better than nothing, but in reality not much more than an in situ 3D photo album of what was once there. It seems weird that one of the oldest and most historic cities in Canada hasn't retained more of its heritage buildings, but it is what it is.
I enjoy looking at historic buildings, and feel they help ground a city by keeping links to its past and how we got here, but others don't have that appreciation, and I accept that. I don't consider myself to be a 'heritage advocate', but really just somebody who appreciates it, but I do feel that those in charge have some responsibility to keep some of it around for future generations. I recall in pre-covid times, discussing heritage buildings with various people I would meet when I was out and about, and oddly it seemed like the younger generation had more appreciation for these buildings than older people. Yet the older people seem to be the ones making the decisions to let them go (just my generalizations based on my experience, though). Oh well.
Back to the Press Block...
Threaded Mode