Hello friends - Thank you most sincerely for signing this petitions and continuing to comment, post and share your support to save 1245 Edward Street. The house is still standing. Inside, we have no idea what the demolition squad has actually done, but if the cavalier way they've treated the heritage elements that Dalhousie promise to save is any indication, it might not be pretty.

Neighbours have called Department of Labour several times, checking that things were being done properly by the mostly very young guys working (sometimes without their foreman present) at the site. An initial large dumpster was filled to the brim with what they described as asbestos materials wrapped in yellow plastic. That dumpster sat in the driveway for five days. Two other smaller dumpsters were filled and removed more quickly. Today, after being rained on several days, the final big dumpster was removed. 

I spoke to the workers about the 15-16 original 125-year-old doors they had set aside, alongside mirrors and heritage mouldings in the backyard. They said it was "the first time" they'd heard of any salvage plans by Dal. Attempts to reach Dal were fruitless.  No-one replied to emails, voice mails, etc. Finally on Friday I spoke to Chloe in the President's office, who promised that someone would get back to me; no-one did. I've emailed again today but don't hold much hope that the now very wet historic elements will be salvaged.

The rest of the backyard is full of soggy mattresses, wet chairs (that could have been donated or at least set by the side of the road for people to take), and the other "debris" pulled off the interior during the illegal demolition period. Those materials have been setting there for weeks, and the smell on our street is palpable. This has not made for the greatest atmosphere in our neighbourhood this summer, along with the early morning starts (usually at 7:20 a.m. and noise of fans and workmen). We worried that bags blowing out the window on the side of the house have holes in them and have come untied. But no-one worries about us.

Next up will the public hearing on September 27 at which the owner (Dal) gets to present to City Council. No doubt they will list all the reasons they house should not be saved. Indeed, they have already disputed in their public response that the house "is not heritage." They'll probably play their interior video with creepy funeral music on a loop, which they say proves that the damage to the house (which they caused) make it "uninhabitable." These things are lies and untrue. What heritage experts they have, who would know more than heritage advisory city staff or members of the HAC (including our former Chief Archivist for the Province of NS), has not been disclosed. Immediately following their presentation, Council will vote on whether or not to give the house heritage status, which would protect it again. 

I urge you to contact each member of City Council and the Mayor this month, and let them know of your support for this as one of the now more than 6,000 signatories to the petition. Tell Council that you respect their staff and the HAC experts who unanimously supported our application (by more than 14 necessary for heritage status). We still need to keep up the pressure to be successful on September 27.

Hope you are having a good, demolition-free summer!  Thank you, Peggy Walt PS here's a pic of the soggy doors, mirrors and mouldings. The mantlepiece seems to have disappeared.