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Sidewalks on the north side of Spring Garden Road and south side of Doyle Street between Brunswick and Queen are closed for the next two weeks as demolition of the Doyle block is now underway.
The entire city block is coming down to make way for a seven-storey mixed-used complex including a boutique hotel, residential units, landscaped courtyards and (according to some) a ruined view from the Central Library across the street.
SignalHFX, the news website for King’s College’s journalism program, shared some video of the demolition:
Demolition of Doyle-Brunswick-Spring Garden block in front of library underway – traffic on Spring Garden backed up. pic.twitter.com/jlMEYzubRI
— The Signal (@signalhfx) March 19, 2016
Formerly the home of the Bank of Montreal, Rogues’ Roost, the Fireside and Tom’s Little Havana (among other), the site is being redeveloped by Danny Chedrawe’s Westwood Developments. But some residents aren’t thrilled watching the eclectic mix of buildings be razed to the ground.
I don’t really have much to say about this except that it’s a total failure of planning and development. pic.twitter.com/oKKG8Kjny6
— Matthew Halliday (@MatthewHalliday) March 19, 2016
Matthew Halliday has previously written an opinion piece in a local daily newspaper (that we’d prefer not to link to right now) criticizing the “blockbusting” style of the Doyle Street project.
“The irreplaceable, eclectic architectural mix on the current Doyle block spans nearly 100 years, from Victorian fussiness to art-deco grandeur to mid-century modernity. It’s a great place to see Halifax’s characteristic blend of old and new—the ornamental façade of the Maritime Life Building is juxtaposed dramatically with the sharp angles of the Halifax Central Library across the street.
And the versatility of these constantly renovated, re-adapted buildings has allowed all sorts of businesses to flourish: cafés, bars, a brewery, a hookah lounge, high-tech startups and more.
It’s a genuinely great city block. The restoration potential is obvious. In 2015, it’s almost impossible to imagine a developer based in Montreal or Toronto assembling a similar collection of buildings, on a comparable commercial street like Rue St. Denis or Queen Street West, and simply pulverizing the whole thing.”
A public advisory from HRM says the sidewalks will only be closed for the next two weeks, but further closures “are expected as development continues.”
New construction mitigation guidelines to ease downtown construction pains like annexed sidewalks are being developed by the city and a report is expected back in May.
Also, a reminder that tonight, Monday, is the launch event for HRM’s Centre Plan. The kickoff for the public input process that will guide future downtown development takes place tonight, 6pm at Alderney Landing, but anyone invested in urban design can have their say here.
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This article appears in Mar 17-23, 2016.
Don’t you mean to refer to the sidewalks on the NORTH side of SGR? They have no need to close both sides…
Sites like this should be mandated to provide temporary pedestrian access on the street guarded by Jersey barrier, like they did on Brunswick Street (they can be seen in the photos). I and many others, had to walk in traffic yesterday because of this closure. Just putting up a sign says, “sidewalk closed, use other side” is a cop out. I have rarely ever seen when road work is being done, do the close the road to traffic. The road work project goes out of its way, usually to great expense to make sure the road is still useable to motorists, by alternating the traffic.
Spend a little money to allow pedestrians safe passage around this and hundreds of other construction sites, rather than putting up a sign basically telling them to go away.
You know, somehow in writing it I thought that was obvious but yeah, it should be in there (and now is). Thanks!
This will add to the glut of empty commercial space along SGR.
^^^
Hahaha! But isn’t SGR just a glut of empty commercial space and a library?
Raised many a brew and cocktail in the basement of the building on that corner back in the 70s and 80s.
So, SGR is the new Barrington St?
It’s for two fucking weeks. Deal with it and go around the back by Port of Wines. Bunch of whiney-ass pussies!
Three years later, the new building’s still not quite done.