HRM: Don’t Cut Support for Built Heritage!

March 20, 2025

Dear Mayor Fillmore and members of Council,

 I am writing to provide feedback on the proposed budget amendments that Council will be discussing over the next few days. In particular, I would like to address proposed reductions in heritage planning staff and funding for heritage property grants.

Built heritage in HRM is arguably in more peril right now than it has been at any other time since the now discredited “urban regeneration” push in the late 50s and early 60s. As such, this would be absolutely the worst time to cut funding intended to help protect built heritage.

There are many other expenditures in the budget that could be delayed without any tangible negative consequences, but cutting the already modest support that HRM provides to advance the preservation of our irreplaceable built heritage will create immediate, and irreversible damage to heritage assets that bring economic, social and environmental benefits to HRM. This loss is happening across HRM, but is felt most acutely in peninsular Halifax, where historic buildings are being demolished at an alarming rate.

Residents of Halifax, as well as visitors to the city, are outraged and dismayed to see what is happening to our beautiful, historic city. This is evidenced by that fact that almost 5,000 people have signed the Heritage Trust’s petition calling for an end to the destruction of Halifax’s built heritage https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-destruction-of-halifax-s-built-heritage-enough-is-enough

I understand that Council is trying to find savings in order to keep property taxes down, but the proposed amendments represent a “death by a thousand cuts.” Instead, it would seem that a more effective approach would be to cut a major project that would realize the total savings that Council is seeking to achieve. The most obvious single project that would result in the savings that Council is seeking is the Robie Street widening. Similar results could be achieved by using signaled lane changes, like on the MacDonald Bridge. This would not only save millions of dollars, but also stop the demolition of dozens of historic buildings, affordable housing units and mature trees.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

 Andrea Arbic, President

Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia