HTNS Urges Council to Follow Staff Advice and Not Allow the Demolition of the Caretakers Cottage—1259 South Park Street

March 19, 2024

Mayor Michael Savage Halifax Council
PO Box 1749
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Dear Mayor Savage and Members of Council:

RE:  Demolition request for 1259 South Park Street, Halifax

I write on behalf of Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia. We understand that Halifax Regional Council will address the application by the Archdiocese of Halifax and Yarmouth, made under the Heritage Property Act and under the Schmidtville Heritage Conservation District Plan By-law, to demolish the property located at 1259 South Park Street – the caretaker’s cottage. Heritage Trust supports the recommendations of both staff and the Heritage Advisory Committee that this application should be refused.

The caretaker’s cottage has been a municipally registered as heritage property since 1982 and was included in the more recently established Schmidtville Heritage Conservation District. It is a unique example of a late-Victorian worker’s cottage – much plainer in design than its neighbouring properties but a good example of where a worker of that era would live. Originally built in 1846, it was home for successive sextons and superintendents for the cemetery, expanded and modified in the late 1800s and early 1900s to accommodate those caretakers and their families. The history of the cottage’s residents over the years led to its inclusion in the Schmidtville Heritage Conservation District.

The building was abandoned by the Archdiocese and has been left vacant and without maintenance for several years. In 2017 the Archdiocese alleged that the building was beyond repair, but HRM building inspectors who investigated it in May 2023 disagreed and found that the building could be repaired and repurposed. The Archdiocese at its public presentation in June 2023 stated that they have no immediate plans to use the property, though it would eventually erect more columbaria on the site.

Heritage Trust strongly supports retention of this structure, as recommended both by HRM staff and by the Heritage Advisory Committee. We respectfully request that Halifax Council deny the
Archdiocese permission to demolish this important heritage building.

Respectfully submitted,
Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia
Sandra L. Barss
President