CBC Radio Building (Halifax)

Last updated
CBC Radio Building
CBC Halifax.jpg
The building seen in 2012
Alternative namesUnited Services Building, F.C. Manning Building
General information
StatusDemolished
Architectural style Streamline Moderne
Location Halifax, Nova Scotia
Address5600 Sackville Street
Coordinates 44°38′36″N63°34′54″W / 44.64333°N 63.58167°W / 44.64333; -63.58167
Completed1933
Demolished2016
Technical details
Structural system Reinforced concrete
Floor count4
Design and construction
ArchitectSydney Perry Dumaresq

The CBC Radio Building was a landmark Streamline Moderne-style office building located in Halifax, Nova Scotia overlooking the Halifax Citadel and Halifax Public Gardens which served as the home of CBC Radio in Nova Scotia from 1944 to 2014.

Streamline Moderne late type of the Art Deco architecture and design

Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. It was inspired by aerodynamic design. Streamline architecture emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design, it was used in railroad locomotives, telephones, toasters, buses, appliances, and other devices to give the impression of sleekness and modernity.

Halifax, Nova Scotia Provincial capital municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada

Halifax, formally known as the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), is the capital of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It had a population of 403,131 in 2016, with 316,701 in the urban area centred on Halifax Harbour. The regional municipality consists of four former municipalities that were amalgamated in 1996: Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and Halifax County.

Nova Scotia Province of Canada

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime Provinces, and one of the four provinces that form Atlantic Canada. Its provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest of Canada's ten provinces, with an area of 55,284 square kilometres (21,300 sq mi), including Cape Breton and another 3,800 coastal islands. As of 2016, the population was 923,598. Nova Scotia is Canada's second-most-densely populated province, after Prince Edward Island, with 17.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (45/sq mi).

Contents

Origins

The building was made for Fred C. Manning, a Nova Scotia businessman who built a chain of gas stations and car dealerships during the 1920s and 30s known as the United Service Corporation. Completed in 1933, it originally served as a car dealership, gas station and Manning's head office. Sydney Perry Dumaresq, [1] one of a family of famous Nova Scotian architects, [2] designed the building in the Streamline Moderne-style, a 1930s variation of Art Deco known for its elegant curves and often associated with transportation facilities of the era. In order to maximize the use of the corner property, parking was provided on the roof of the building, with access via a specially built elevator. [1]

Art Deco Influential visual arts design style which first appeared in France during the 1920s

Art Deco, sometimes referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. Art Deco influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewelry, fashion, cars, movie theatres, trains, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as radios and vacuum cleaners. It took its name, short for Arts Décoratifs, from the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes held in Paris in 1925. It combined modern styles with fine craftsmanship and rich materials. During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress.

CBC Radio

In 1944, the CBC Radio station CBHA and other CBC services in Nova Scotia moved into the building [3] installing their transmission tower on the roof in the first few years. [4] CBC studios soon grew to occupy more of the building which came to serve as home to English CBC Radio One station CBHA-FM and Radio Two station CBH-FM as well as radio administration and various arts programs. The Canadian humourist Max Ferguson began his CBC career in the building in 1946, creating the character "Rawhide" to host a morning country and western show that soon became a satirical hit. [5] After renting for many years, the CBC purchased the building in 1981. However, in the wake of staff reductions and programming cuts, the CBC sold the building in 2014 as part of plans to consolidate television and radio in a new facility on 7067 Chebucto Road in the Armdale neighbourhood of Halifax's West End.

CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.

CBHA-FM radio station (90.5 FM) licensed to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

CBHA-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the CBC Radio One affiliate in Halifax, Nova Scotia, broadcasting at 90.5 MHz. It is the flagship CBC Radio One station for the Maritime provinces. CBHA's studios are located on 7067 Chebucto Road in Halifax, while its transmitter is located on Washmill Lake Drive in Clayton Park.

CBH-FM

CBH-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting in Halifax, Nova Scotia at 102.7 MHz. The station was launched on June 1, 1976 and is the CBC Music outlet for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. CBH-FM's studios are located on 7067 Chebucto Road in Halifax, while its transmitter is located on Washmill Lake Drive in Clayton Park.

Arts space

In addition to its role as the Halifax home of CBC Radio, the building also offered free space to a wide range of arts organizations, playing a vital role in the growth of the province's cultural scene. The offices of the classical music organizations Debut Atlantic and the St. Cecilia Concert Series were housed there at the invitation of then-regional radio director Bill Donovan. in 1993, the building also became home to the Atlantic Film Festival at the invitation of then-CBC Television director Fred Mattocks, following the festival's loss of office space at the National Film Board of Canada's centre on Barrington Street, which was destroyed by fire in 1991. Other arts organizations with space at the building included the Centre for Art Tapes, the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative, the Linda Joy Media Arts Society, the Moving Images Group, Shortworks, and dance groups Mocean Dance and Live Art Dance. [6]

The FIN: Atlantic International Film Festival is a major international film festival held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada since 1980.

National Film Board of Canada Canadas public film and digital media producer and distributor

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and alternative dramas. In total, the NFB has produced over 3,000 productions since its inception, which have won over 5,000 awards. The NFB reports to the Parliament of Canada through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. It has English-language and French-language production branches.

Barrington Street

Barrington Street is a major street in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, running from the MacKay bridge in the North End approximately seven kilometres south, through Downtown Halifax to Inglis Street in the South End. The civic numbers range from 950 to 4756 on the Halifax Peninsula street grid numbering system.

Demolition

CBC broadcast its final shows from the building in November 2014. The building was purchased by South West Developments who began demolition on it in March 2016. The former site of the CBC building and the adjacent YMCA will be the location of a 13-story condominium. [6]

YMCA worldwide organization

The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries from 120 national associations. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by Sir George Williams in London and aims to put Christian principles into practice by developing a healthy "body, mind, and spirit".

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References

  1. 1 2 J. Philip Dumaresq, "The Story of the CBC Radio Building at Sackville and Bell Road, Halifax", The Griffin, Vol. 35, No. 3 September 2010
  2. ↑ Marjorie Simmins, "The Family that Built this City" Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine ., Halifaxmag.com April 2011
  3. ↑ "'An East Coast Port': Halifax in Wartime, 1939-1945, ``Nova Scotia Archives``
  4. ↑ Radio Station History, "CBHA-FM (Radio one), Halifax, Canadian Broadcasting Corp.", Canadian Communications Foundation
  5. ↑ History of Nova Scotia with Special Attention Given to Transportation and Communication"
  6. 1 2 Butler, Erica (13 November 2014). "The party's over for CBC's inadvertent incubator". The Coast . Retrieved 14 November 2014.
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