Team mapping historical buildings in Halifax says city losing its 'architectural inheritance'
Halifax Memory Maps found that of 9,000 buildings built before 1878, only 1,143 survived passage of time
A project mapping the locations of Halifax's oldest buildings has discovered the vast majority of those historical structures are no longer standing, having been lost over the decades to fires, demolition or redevelopment.
The Halifax Memory Maps project, spearheaded by a team of landscape archaeologists and digital cartographers, has found that of about 9,000 buildings that existed on the peninsula before 1878, only 1,143 survive today.
Jonathan Fowler, professor of anthropology at Saint Mary's University, told CBC Radio's Mainstreet the project's purpose is to preserve the character of the city by creating a sense of heritage and revealing what remains of its history.
"It's sort of like a debit card. We've been knocking down old buildings just like you go to the bank machine or whatever and you tap your card. We've been drawing on an account, but we don't know how much is in it. But now we do," he said.
The team used large-scale maps published in 1878 by American civil engineer Henry W. Hopkins — the earliest and most detailed information it could find — to learn which buildings existed 146 years ago. Then it designed a map that highlights which buildings remain.
'Out with the old, in with the new'
Like in other cities, Fowler said Halifax has lost some of its oldest buildings to redevelopment.
The project's website notes that 30 per cent of the unregistered heritage buildings in Halifax's downtown core were demolished in more recent times, between 2009 and 2019.
"Whenever there's a zone or a neighbourhood where there's a lot of economic activity, it's out with the old and in with the new," said Fowler.
But he said redevelopment is not solely responsible for the loss of the city's historical buildings. Some were destroyed by fires and the Halifax Explosion of 1917, although the professor said the explosion's damage was relatively localized.
"The first thing that people say often when they hear about this project is, 'Well, the explosion must have taken out, you know, loads of things.' Well, it did, but in a certain area. Once you get into the downtown, there's very little damage," said Fowler.
Protecting Halifax's heritage
According to the project, only 381 of the surviving 1,143 buildings are municipally registered heritage properties, leaving a majority unprotected.
"The loss of so much of Halifax's architectural inheritance ... is a cause for concern," reads the Memory Maps website.
Fowler said he believes the project is the first digitized map of its kind that allows people to compare how the city has changed.
He said he hopes this map encourages planners and the public to think of their city as the connection between past and present, which is why it should be protected.
"An old place like Halifax is part of many narratives. Do you want to live in a place that is enriched by that and connected to that? Or do you want to live in the ever-present?" he said.
"None of us think we should just arrest change and put a plate of glass over Halifax ... but I do think we could be more thoughtful about these deletions because you can only do it once."
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