The Sweet Basil Building, also known as the P. Martin Liquors Building, was a heritage building on the waterfront of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada which was demolished by Halifax developer Armour Group in November 2008 as part of the company's controversial Waterside Centre Development proposal.
The building, known by the name of its last occupant, a Halifax restaurant, was built in the 1840s. It was a three-story wood-frame building, the last wooden building on Halifax's Water Street and was typical of the “Sailortown” buildings which served seafarer's in Nova Scotia's Age of Sail. [1] It stood beside the oldest storefront in Halifax, the 1820 Harrington MacDonald-Briggs Building [2] and faced the preserved warehouses and shipping offices of Privateer's Wharf, a National Historic Site. The building served as a sailor's boarding house, liquor store, confectionery, grocery store and restaurant. [3] The building was rented to a successful Halifax restaurant but Armour group argued that it was uneconomical because the upper floors were not suited for profitable modern office space. [4] The last tenant, the Sweet Basil Bistro, reluctantly left the building after 19 years on the site due to the redevelopment. [5]
The Sweet Basil Building was designated a municipally protected heritage building in 1981. It was also a nationally recognized building under the federal Historic Places program. [6] However Armour Group overturned the designation in court in 2008 arguing that it was designated in error.
Armour Group wished to use the land to build a nine-story office tower called the Waterside Centre, which involved the demolition of six heritage buildings, although the facades of some would be reconstructed at street level. The project faced widespread public opposition at municipal hearings in September 2008 [7] and was narrowly rejected by the council of Halifax Regional Municipality on October 21. [8] However Armour Group announced that they would appeal the decision to Nova Scotia's Utility and Review Board, on October 31, the same day as his company began demolition of the Sweet Basil Building|. [9] The Board overturned Council's decision and approved the controversial office tower on March 26, 2009, and Halifax Council voted not to further oppose the development and or try and save the remaining buildings on April 7, 2009. [10]
After boarding windows and demolishing exterior parts of the building on October 21, the entire building was demolished early Sunday morning, November 2, 2008. [11] Promoters of downtown development such as the Halifax Chamber of Commerce noted that the demolition and disputed development highlight the need for a more streamlined development process. Heritage advocates such as Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia pointed to the demolition as a sign of the weakness of municipal heritage designations and the lack of any heritage districts in downtown Halifax. [12]
Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2023, it is estimated that the population of the Halifax CMA was 518,711, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The regional municipality consists of four former municipalities that were amalgamated in 1996: Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and Halifax County.
Africville was a small community of predominantly African Nova Scotians located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It developed on the southern shore of Bedford Basin and existed from the early 1800s to the 1960s. From 1970 to the present, a protest has occupied space on the grounds. The government has recognized it as a commemorative site and established a museum here. The community has become an important symbol of Black Canadian identity, as an example of the "urban renewal" trend of the 1960s that razed similarly racialized neighbourhoods across Canada, and the struggle against racism.
St. Patrick's High School was a non-denominational school centrally located on Quinpool Road in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Historically a Roman Catholic public school, St. Pat's opened in 1954 less than one block from its rival non-denominational public school, Queen Elizabeth High (QEH). St. Patrick's closed in 2007, merging with QEH to form Citadel High School. The school building was demolished in 2015.
1801 Hollis Street is an office building in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Completed in 1985, it is one of the tallest buildings in Halifax, at 87 metres, with 22 floors. It was built as the corporate headquarters of Central Trust, one of the largest trust companies in Canada in the 1980s, and was originally known as Central Trust Tower.
Hosting the region's largest urban population, Halifax, Nova Scotia is an important cultural centre in Atlantic Canada. Halifax is home to a vibrant arts and culture community that enjoys considerable support and participation from the general population. As the largest community and the administrative centre of the Atlantic region since its founding in 1749, Halifax has long-standing tradition of being a cultural generator. While provincial arts and culture policies have tended to distribute investment and support of the arts throughout the province, sometimes to the detriment of more populous Halifax, cultural production in the region is increasingly being recognized for its economic benefits, as well as its purely cultural aspects.
Berwick is a Canadian town in Kings County, Nova Scotia. The town is located in the eastern part of the Annapolis Valley on the Cornwallis River. The town site stretches south from the river and Exit 15 of Highway 101 to Highway 1. Berwick occupies 6.80 km2 and has an elevation of 43 m (141 ft) above sea level.
The Halifax Armoury is a military structure in central Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The armoury is the home base of The Princess Louise Fusiliers, and several cadet units.
The Texpark site is a prominent vacant lot in Downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Coast, a weekly newspaper, has called it "downtown's biggest gaping hole" and an "embarrassing missing tooth" in the urban fabric. Much of the site was once home to the Texpark, a city-owned parking garage, demolished in 2004.
Nova Scotia Museum (NSM) is the corporate name for the 28 museums across Nova Scotia, Canada, and is part of the province's tourism infrastructure. The organization manages more than 200 historic buildings, living history sites, vessels, and specialized museums and about one million artifacts and specimens, either directly or through a system of co-operative agreements with societies and local boards. The NSM delivers programs, exhibits and products which provide both local residents and tourists in Nova Scotian communities an opportunity to experience and learn about Nova Scotia's social and natural history. More than 600,000 people visit the facilities each year.
Halifax City Hall is the home of municipal government in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Designed by architect Edward Elliot, and constructed for the City of Halifax between 1887 and 1890, it is one of the oldest and largest public buildings in Nova Scotia. The property was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1997.
Sambro Island Lighthouse is a landfall lighthouse located at the entrance to Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, on an island near the community of Sambro in the Halifax Regional Municipality. It is the oldest surviving lighthouse in North America and its construction is a National Historic Event.
The RBC Waterside Centre is a commercial development in the downtown core of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada built by local real estate developer Armour Group. The project involves demolishing six heritage buildings and replacing them with a nine storey retail and office building, clad at ground level with the reconstructed facades of most of the former heritage buildings.
The Grand Parade is an historic military parade square dating from the founding of Halifax in 1749. At the north end of the Grand Parade is the Halifax City Hall, the seat of municipal government in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality. At the south end is St. Paul's Church. In the middle of Grand Parade is the cenotaph built originally to commemorate the soldiers who served in World War I.
The Devils Island Light is a Nova Scotia lighthouse located at the eastern shore entrance to Halifax Harbour on Devils Island, Nova Scotia. First lit in 1852, it was succeeded by a second lighthouse in 1877 which survives today. The lighthouse has influenced regional folklore and remains an important community landmark although it is currently neglected and threatened.
The Africville Apology was a formal pronouncement delivered on 24 February 2010 by the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia for the eviction and eventual destruction of Africville, a Black Nova Scotian community.
Henry House is a two-and-a-half-storey stone house located on Barrington Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The house is designated a National Historic Site, and is both a Provincially Registered Property and a Municipally Registered Property under the provincial Heritage Property Act.
The Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia is a non-profit society dedicated to the advocacy for and conservation of Nova Scotia's architectural and cultural heritage. It was founded in 1959, "in response to the proposed demolition of Enos Collins's Halifax House Gorsebrook," a Georgian-style home that once stood on the present site of Saint Mary's University hockey rink. The Trust has advocated for and assisted in the conservation of numerous heritage buildings and districts in Nova Scotia. Notable examples include The Carleton, Morris House, and Historic Properties.
The Halifax Central Library is a public library in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located on the corner of Spring Garden Road and Queen Street in Downtown Halifax. It serves as the flagship library of the Halifax Public Libraries, replacing the Spring Garden Road Memorial Library.
The Cogswell Interchange is a multi-level highway interchange in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was built as the first stage of a greater scheme for an elevated freeway, called Harbour Drive, which would have run south through downtown and necessitated demolition of much of the downtown building stock. The plan was halted in the face of significant public opposition, but the Cogswell Interchange remains a visible reminder, occupying a large amount of prime land and posing a barrier to pedestrian movement.
The Aspotogan Sea Spa was a luxury hotel development at the tip of the Aspotogan Peninsula, Nova Scotia, Canada. Construction was aborted in the mid-1990s when the developer ran out of money, leaving the hulking hotel building sitting abandoned for two decades until it was demolished in 2016.