HRTG-2023-00650 (Former Case H00561) – Demolition of 1259 South Park Street, Halifax

Updated:

Request

Application by the property owner, The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation, requesting to demolish the registered municipal heritage property at 1259 South Park Street, Halifax (PID 00093724).

Background
1259 South Park Street, Halifax, also known as the Cemetery Caretaker’s House, was registered as a municipal heritage property in 1982. The property contains a two-storey wooden building of timber frame construction, which was designed in Victorian Plain style and constructed by an unknown builder sometime between 1850 and 1900. This building was registered as part of the South Park Street Victorian Streetscape, which encompassed all the properties fronting along the eastern side of South Park Street between the intersections with Morris Street and South Street, excluding Holy Cross Cemetery itself and the Our Lady of Sorrows chapel, which was registered separately in 1980. The evaluation notes for the streetscape describe 1259 South Park Street as being a “simple bracketed dwelling at the end of the streetscape”.

Proposal

The applicant has applied to demolish the subject property to permit the construction of a new columbarium for the adjacent cemetery. This application for demolition of the registered heritage property is being sought in accordance with Sections 17 and 18 of the Heritage Property Act. 

The applicant has noted in their condition report the building’s overall poor structural and cosmetic condition, many signs of water ingress, as well as potential safety hazards. The applicant has argued that the cost of remedying these hazards and ameliorating the condition of the property would be prohibitively expensive, and that in its current state, restoration of the existing building would leave nearly nothing original to the structure. They are therefore seeking to demolish the existing registered heritage building.
 

Process

Applications for the demolition of a registered heritage property require the approval of Council to proceed. Staff are currently reviewing the application and will ultimately prepare a staff report with recommendation for the Heritage Advisory Committee and Regional Council to consider. Before Regional Council can make any decision about the application, details of the application shall be published to the municipal website, a sign shall be posted on-site, a mail-out shall be sent to residents within a 250ft radius of the site, and a public information meeting shall be held. The mail-outs will be distributed in the latter half of May, 2023, and the Public Information Meeting shall be held June 7th, 2023 from 6:00pm - 8:30pm, at Halifax Hall, City Hall, 1841 Argyle Street, Halifax, NS B3J 3A5.
 

Status

This application is currently in the public consultation stage. We are holding a Public Information Meeting for residents to learn about the application and to ask questions and provide comments on the application. We wish to hear from you! Public feedback will be collected through the municipal website, the sign posted on-site, the mail-outs, and the Public Information Meeting. Following public consultation, HRM staff will write a staff report for review by the Heritage Advisory Committee and Regional Council. Please monitor this website for further details.  

Documents Submitted for Evaluation

The applicant has submitted a letter of rationale and a condition report required by municipal staff to properly evaluate the application. The details of this application may change before consideration or approval by Regional Council. Updates or changes to the application will be posted on this website. 

A – Letter of Rationale
B – Supplemental Document
C – Condition Report
D – Map of Location and Notification Area
E – Map of Schmidtville HCD
 

Contact Information

For further information, please contact:

Carter Beaupre-McPhee

Heritage Planning Researcher

Regional Planning

Telephone: 902.719.9604

Mailing Address

HRM Planning Applications

PO Box: 1749,

Halifax,

Nova Scotia,

B3J 3A5

Attention: Carter Beaupre-McPhee (Please identify the Case # and address)