HRTG-2023-00650 (Former Case H00561) – Demolition of 1259 South Park Street, Halifax

Request

Application by the property owner, The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation, requesting to demolish the registered municipal heritage property at 1259 South Park Street, Halifax (PID 00093724).

Background

1259 South Park Street, Halifax, also known as the Cemetery Caretaker’s House, was registered as a municipal heritage property in 1982. The property contains a two-storey wooden building. Originally this building was constructed in 1846 for the Cemetery’s Sexton by a local carpenter, in a single-storey, hipped-roof, vernacular style. The house was heavily modified/expanded from the 1890s through the 1910s to its current form, a two-storey Victorian Plain style dwelling. The building has served as the home of successive cemetery keepers / superintendents until 2015. This building was registered as part of the South Park Street Victorian Streetscape, which encompassed all the properties fronting along the eastern side of South Park Street between the intersections with Morris Street and South Street, excluding Holy Cross Cemetery itself and the Our Lady of Sorrows chapel, which was registered separately in 1980. The evaluation notes for the streetscape describe 1259 South Park Street as being a “simple bracketed dwelling at the end of the streetscape”.

Proposal

Initial Proposal – View the site in Google Maps

The applicant has applied to demolish the subject property to permit the construction of a new columbarium for the adjacent cemetery. This application for demolition of the registered heritage property is being sought in accordance with Sections 17 and 18 of the Heritage Property Act.

The applicant has noted in their condition report the building’s overall poor structural and cosmetic condition, many signs of water ingress, as well as potential safety hazards. The applicant has argued that the cost of remedying these hazards and ameliorating the condition of the property would be prohibitively expensive, and that in its current state, restoration of the existing building would leave nearly nothing original to the structure. The applicant has also indicated that an 1843 Act of the Nova Scotia Assembly (see Document F below) restricts the use of the subject property to only cemetery use, limiting the property’s viability. They are therefore seeking to demolish the existing registered heritage building / contributing heritage resource.

(New) Amended Proposal

The applicant has amended their application to propose a demolition with conditions for partial conservation, interpretation, and adaptive re-use. The amended proposal is more thoroughly discussed in the Supplementary Report (see Document C below). The conditions proposed include:

• The stone masonry wall on the northern boundary of the subject property must be retained in-situ;
• The original 1846 stone foundations of the Cemetery Keeper’s House (1259 South Park Street) must be retained in-situ and daylighted (made visible to the public);
• Interpretive signage explaining the heritage significance of the foundations must be installed by the applicant near the foundations;
• Any columbaria or other structures to be erected on the property must be built within and/or around the foundations without removing or unduly obscuring the foundations; and
• The applicant must comply with Schmidtville HCD By-law requirements for a Certificate of Appropriateness for any new buildings or structures, including columbaria.
   

Process

Applications for the demolition of a registered heritage property require the approval of Council to proceed. Staff reviewed the application and details of the application were published to the municipal website, a sign was posted on-site, a mail-out was sent to residents within a 250ft radius of the site, and a public information meeting was held June 7^th, 2023 from 6:00pm - 8:30pm, at Halifax Hall, City Hall, 1841 Argyle Street, Halifax, NS B3J 3A5. Staff prepared a staff report (see Document D below) and the staff report was reviewed by the Heritage Advisory Committee on February 27, 2024 and proceeded to first reading at Regional Council on March 19, 2024.

At first reading, Regional Council moved to defer the Public Hearing and request submission of a supplementary report to address Council’s questions regarding rezoning and subdivision. Since then, the applicant has submitted a letter (see Document A below) amending the scope and nature of their demolition application to propose conditions for partial conservation, interpretation, and adaptive re-use of the heritage resource. Staff have addressed this amended application in the supplementary report (see Document C below). The supplementary report was reviewed by the Heritage Advisory Committee on October 8, 2024, and will proceed to first reading at Regional Council in November. If at first reading Regional Council wishes to consider the application, a date will be set for a Public Hearing. At the Public Hearing, residents will be given the opportunity to speak before Regional Council or to provide written submissions, prior to Council rendering their decision.
 

Status

TAKE NOTICE THAT Halifax Regional Council did, on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, approve the granting of a Certificate of Appropriateness for the following application:

HRTG-2023-00650 – An application by the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth to demolish a registered heritage property / contributing heritage resource located at 1259 South Park Street, Halifax (the Cemetery Keeper’s House) subject to the following conditions:

1. The stone masonry wall on the northern boundary of the subject property must be retained in-situ;
2. The original 1846 stone foundations of the Cemetery Keeper’s House (1259 South Park Street) must be retained in-situ and daylighted (made visible to the public);
3. Interpretive signage explaining the heritage significance of the foundations must be installed by the applicant near the foundations;
4. Any columbaria or other structures to be erected on the property must be built within and/or around the foundations without removing or unduly obscuring the foundations; and
5. The applicant must comply with Schmidtville HCD By-law requirements for a Certificate of Appropriateness for any new buildings or structures, including columbaria.

Documents Submitted for Evaluation

Documents Submitted for Evaluation

New documents:

A – Amended Scope Letter

B – Supplementary Staff Report HAC Presentation

C – Supplementary Staff Report (Addresses Amended Application)

D – Original Staff Report (Pre-Amendments)

Original submission documents:

E – Letter of Rationale
F – Supplemental Document
G – Condition Report
H – Map of Location and Notification Area
I – Map of Schmidtville HCD