Hi all - here's to write to at Halifax City Hall about the upcoming meeting at which Council can give final approval to the heritage status of 1245 Edward Street. Below their addresses, I'm pasting in the letter I sent them today. I will be calling each councillor and the Mayor, asking for their support - I encourage you to write and call and make some noise too! Please feel free to cut and paste my letter and forward to other also, and thank you again for your ongoing support. There should be a story in this week's Dalhousie Gazette also. Stay safe in the hurricane! Peggy
cathy.deaglegammon@halifax.ca, david.hendsbee@halifax.ca, trish.purdy@halifax.ca, "Mason, Waye" <waye.mason@halifax.ca>, lindell.smith@halifax.ca, shawn.cleary@halifax.ca, patty.cuttell@halifax.ca, pam.lovelace@halifax.ca, paul.russell@halifax.ca, tim.outhit@halifax.ca, becky.kent@halifax.ca, sam.austin@halifax.ca, tony.mancini@halifax.ca, kathryn.morse@halifax.ca, iona.stoddard@halifax.ca, lisa.blackburn@halifax.ca, Mayor <mayor@halifax.ca>
Cc: Shaune MacKinlay <mackins@halifax.ca>, Victoria Palmeter <victoria.palmeter@halifax.ca>, Aaron Murnaghan <murnaga@halifax.ca>, "McGreal, Seamus" <mcgreals@halifax.ca>
September 21, 2022
Dear HRM Councillor:
One year ago, Dalhousie University purchased 1245 Edward Street, a 125+ year-old gracious Edwardian home continuously occupied by families, most recently by Mrs. Susan Sapp and her seven children. Mrs. Sapp also housed generations of female Dalhousie students (usually international students from India, Korea, China, Africa, etc.), and generations of Halifax’s children at Sapp’s Nursery School. When she died at age 95, her home was sold to the University, who own the Glengarry Apartments next door. Dalhousie gardeners, who were digging up plants to relocate on the campus, said the home would be demolished for a parking lot. This was shocking news to neighbours on the street, and we immediately mounted a campaign to protest this wasteful use of a beautiful heritage home and inappropriate and illegal development on our residential street.
1245 Edward was built in 1897 and is connected to the early history of the merchants of Halifax, including the Hobrecker family, the builders of the so-called Oland mansion on Young Avenue. Their outraged descendants, some of whom are Dalhousie graduates, mounted their own opposition to the demolition. Many innovative options were suggested to Dalhousie, like a readaptation of the home into a multi-unit student residence with a backyard suite, a place for international students to live, a faculty residence or departmental offices. Dalhousie has persistently refused every invitation to meet with its neighbours, despite interest from their own faculties of Architecture and Office of Sustainability. Councillor Mason advised them that the property is not zoned for a parking lot. The university began demolition, ignoring two stop work orders issued by the city. Finally, the provincial Department of Labour shut down the work site (due to the unsafe temporary electrical hook up Dal connected to the Glengarry).
A day before the university took possession, I toured the house from top to bottom and took these photographs. The house was in very good shape, perhaps needing a fresh paint job and normal maintenance. The property was well looked after, painted annually, with a new roof, well maintained mature gardens and refinished original hardwood floors, mouldings and gorgeous central panelled staircase. In the year that Dalhousie has owned the property, they let it fall into disrepair; neighbours had to call 311 to have the grass cut. Snow was not removed from the steps, and it appeared that no oil was delivered so the house remained sadly unheated all winter.
Dalhousie says the house “unsuitable” for housing, and “uninhabitable.” They have circulated photos and a video showing water damage. Their decision to not heat the house probably resulted in a burst pipe in two bedrooms. Instead of fixing the damage they caused to this beautiful home, they applied for a demolition permit.
Our petition has over 6,000 signatures, many from Dalhousie’s faculty, alumni and professors. Everyone is outraged at the neglect and waste. The house was assessed by City Heritage staff, who recommended heritage status to the Heritage Advisory Committee; the house scored much more than the required 50 points and was recommended to City Council. Thank you to Councillor Hendsbee for calling an emergency meeting of the HAC.
Once proper electrical hook up was provided by Nova Scotia Power, Volcano Construction workers worked six days a week all summer to do “asbestos abatement.” Never was so much asbestos seen to be removed from a pre-1920 home! More than eight large dumpsters filled the driveway, and were taken away full of with wood, furniture, dry wall, appliances, windows, sinks, toilets, etc. All of the historic doors, mouldings and light fixtures were removed and dumped in the backyard and left for weeks to the elements, despite the university’s assurance they would be saved and preserved. The back deck collapsed under the weight of debris, some thrown from the upper windows, and the heavy machinery and equipment dragged into and out of the house. One smashed out upper window remains open to the elements.
Finally, on August 20, after an entire summer of work crews of 6-8 people and the ensuing noise, odour (wet mattresses left all summer in the rain in the backyard, etc.) the “asbestos abatement” was complete. What neighbours saw through the windows was again shocking: Dalhousie has demolished the entire house down to the studs. There are no more walls, and it’s possible to see from the front window out the back kitchen window to the back yard. There has also been damage to the exterior, front and back steps despite the heritage “no alteration” order. The property is unattended and again unheated
The exterior shell remains, and the interior can now be renovated for many useful purposes. We call on City Council to approve the heritage status recommendation, and not to be dissuaded by the university’s disingenuous claims that the house is “uninhabitable.” All damage to this lovely home has been caused by them in the year they’ve owned it. I will be calling you to ask for your support at the meeting which takes places on September 27. Please do the right thing and grant heritage status to this glorious example of Halifax’s quickly disappearing heritage. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Peggy Walt
On behalf of Edward Steet neighbours, and 6,051 others.
PS Dalhousie’s own recent report on high-risk street party culture states that a priority for the university will be to ensure there is appropriate adequate housing for students and the community. Here’s a great chance for them to put those words into action!