How does one define the heritage value of a building?
That question was the crux of a debate Wednesday at a meeting of Halifax Regional Municipality’s heritage advisory committee.
At issue was whether to send a proposal to regional council to demolish the former Tip Top Tailors building at 1592 Barrington St. in favour of a six-storey retail and office building, as proposed by developer Starfish Properties Ltd.
In the end, the committee voted 6-2 in favour of a staff report supporting the proposal, which means that council must now set a date for a public hearing to consider the demolition application and then subsequently decide whether to approve it.
The design review committee would also have to give its approval to the replacement building, either with conditions, or as designed by Lydon Lynch Architects Ltd.
“The process isn’t over yet, but this is definitely a positive step,” said Stephen Patterson, president of 2882 Gottingen Street Ltd., the company that owns the property along with Starfish Properties.
“I’m excited to see something happen on Barrington Street. I’ve lived here 30 years and it needs to come back to life.”
The staff report said council must weigh the heritage value of the building, the condition of its defining elements, its structural condition and potential for repair, and the merits of the proposal.
Designed by Halifax architect Allan Duffus, the building was built in 1951 by Tip Top Tailors, where the company resided until about 1980. It has had various uses since then
Phil Pacey and Peter Delefes, both of Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia, argued that the building should be spared as it is “a study in cubes, squares and rectangles, inspired by ’50s abstract art.”
They were not pleased with the committee’s decision.
“It’s unfortunate,” Pacey said. “As we indicated, we feel that the building has heritage value. We feel that the application does not meet the guidelines in the (city’s) design manual, so we disagreed with that recommendation.”
He offered several alternatives to the replacement building.
“One is just that the building be fixed up cosmetically to look better. Another is to restore the building to the way it looked in 1951 when it was first built. And the other possibility is to expand the building.”
Debate at the committee centred on several issues, including what can be done to save the building, given that it is not registered as a heritage building but is located in the Barrington Street Heritage Conservation District.
“There was some indication that if it had been a registered (heritage) building, people would have fought more to save it,” Pacey said.
He said he is not sure what Heritage Trust’s next move will be. “The two of us are going to talk about it.”
The replacement would be a 22-metre-high, 15,000-square-foot development with retail space on the ground floor and five floors of office space. It would be sandwiched by the Tramway Building, at the corner of Sackville and Barrington streets, and the Khyber building.
In keeping with the surroundings, Eugene Pieczonka, a principal of Lydon Lynch, has designed the facade to feature black anodized aluminum panels between floors, clear anodized aluminum panels, aluminum-framed curtain walls with silicone glazing, light green glass and a small red brick strip on the left side.
Patterson said he hopes that demolition will begin in July, with construction starting soon after.
“I’m excited to get going on it. When I bought it, it sat for sale for probably a year or two and no one had interest in it. I bought it because I wanted to see it developed.”
