HALIFAX - You've probably never seen the most important mid-19th century building in town. In the 1850s, it must have seemed like today’s “Ship Start Here” contract. A huge government building project that at one stage employed 300 men: so large it required the contractor to build a modern brickyard in Eastern Passage and a steam powered woodworking factory on the waterfront. And where is it? Behind the walls of Canadian Forces Base Halifax - Stadacona, is the block long Wellington Barracks. What survives is the officer’s residence and it ...

HALIFAX - Nothing could be more delicious than a chance to enter the beautiful Halifax homes we pass, as citizens moving through the city streets, wondering at their interiors. From the outside, 6080 South Street is a charming grey house wearing the words ‘Acadia Cottage’ above its entrance. It bears the markers of an award winning Historical Halifax Property, and I first saw it as holding intimate pasts worth knowing. During the afternoon of Sunday, April 10th, this picturesque cottage, as well as a Victorian home and a Cobb Home, located on Inglis Street and Victoria Road respectively, opened themselves up for special guest visitors for Dalhousie Art Gallery’s fundraising event Art at Home. Their owners graciously led guests through their homes, and shared stories of love and wisdom for a tiny piece of built Halifax history. Amidst their listeners, there were enchanted feelings of nostalgia and curiosity which drove each of them inside. As I opened the dark wooden door of 6080, with its imposing cast iron knocker, to the sun-drenched streets of South Street, a mass of gleeful guests came inside, their tickets held warmly. They had come to hear stories of their neighborhood homes, and to enjoy the magnificent art collections and original creations that each held within its bosom.

HALIFAX - What happens when you take a harder discipline like architecture out of context and cut it up to resemble something more soft, like a quilt? Photographer Diane Laundy's new exhibition, fabrications, now on display at ViewPoint Gallery on Barrington Street in Halifax, provides urban art enthusiasts with some pause for thought.

HALIFAX - Plans revealed at a public consultation last night promise a landmark change in the Halifax landscape. Fenwick tower is getting all dolled up. If all goes according to plan, the building will be turned into luxury apartments within the next couple of years.  The former Dalhousie residence will be cloaked in a lavish glass shell, shielding Haligonians from the building's grim, oppressive concrete appearance. The glass exoskeleton will add about 11 metres to the building's girth, flanked by an additional 8-storey and 10-storey building, with street-level restaurants and boutiques. Happy new ...

HALIFAX - On the southeast corner of Hollis Street and Morris Street, in the South End of Halifax, a historically-significant set of buildings characterize the area. During the 200+ years that it has stood on this storied site, it has housed a hotel, an all-boys private boarding school, a rooming house, a rumoured brothel, and in recent years, an affordable place to live downtown on a month-to-month lease. Although some people have referred to the dilapidated grey building as an eyesore, even an ‘urban blight’ - there are many who regard this landmark with fondness. Differences of opinion aside, the building itself is as unique as they come. Every apartment is different from the last, equipped with century-old sinks, clawfoot tubs, brick and marble fireplaces, loft spaces, weathered wooden floors, grandiose arched doorways and quirky crawl spaces. Not to mention its most recognizable feature; the wrap-around verandah which serves as the focal point of interaction between the street and the building. photographs by Scott Munn

Halifax's Grand Parade has long been seen as the heart of the city. It is one of the oldest places in Halifax, having been mapped out in 1749.

Excitement is building for a new central library for Halifax. The new central library will replace the Spring Garden Road Memorial Library, which was built in 1951 as a memorial to Halifax's WWI and WWII casualties.

HALIFAX - It's not uncommon to encounter contrasts of old versus new, bleak versus shiny, defensiveness versus forward-thinking-ness.  That is particularly the case in Halifax, which enjoys a vibrant present as well as a rich and not always happy history.  I was reminded of that on a single day last week. First, I tried to visit the World War II observation posts and gun batteries  at York Redoubt historic park near Fergusons Cove. Besides being a pleasant walk, this is usually a great spot to view the entrance to Halifax harbour -- which is also why antisubmarine nets were stretched from here to McNabs Island 65 or so years ago, protecting the harbour from the U-boats that plied Canada's east coast, torpedoing naval and merchant ships. You can't get to the WWII location now, though.  Parks Canada has cordoned it off because it is sufficiently decayed and unmaintained that it might be a risk to park visitors.