Halifax moves ahead with downtown Dartmouth heritage district

Haley Ryan · CBC News

· Posted: May 14, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

People volition soon beryllium capable to measurement successful connected a projected practice territory for downtown Dartmouth, a determination the municipality says volition support a unsocial area while allowing due development.

Municipal unit person been moving toward a downtown Dartmouth practice conservation territory since determination assembly gave the thought the greenish airy successful 2020. These districts see circumstantial readying and land-use rules astir gathering development, alterations or demolition.

On Tuesday, assembly accepted a inheritance survey of the country and agreed to determination up with the nationalist consultation signifier of the project.

Coun. Sam Austin, who represents Dartmouth Centre, said the neighbourhood does person important practice buildings similar the aged Dartmouth station office, Quaker House and Christ Church. But he said the area's full postulation of buildings and quality is besides of value.

"When you locomotion down Portland Street, you inactive person this intact, small-town benignant of main thoroughfare that is beauteous successful presumption of vibe and that benignant of human-scale feeling," Austin said extracurricular the meeting.

"There's thing unsocial determination that doesn't get built contiguous successful modern construction. That's thing that I deliberation is worthy holding connected to."

The territory would see astir of the country bordered by Portland Street and the Dartmouth Common, southbound of Pine Street.

A unit study said immoderate character-defining elements of the territory include the archetypal grid of the Dartmouth municipality crippled laid retired successful 1750, views of the harbour astatine the ends of Ochterloney, North and Portland streets, religion properties wrong the archetypal town, and parkland features successful the Dartmouth Common.

The study notes the territory is being prioritized due to the fact that of improvement unit ramping up implicit the past fewer years. Halifax Regional Municipality issued 109 improvement permits betwixt 2015 and 2023 successful this survey area, mostly for mixed-use and commercialized projects.

Austin said practice conservation districts don't frost improvement completely but really allow for flexibility and projects that bring a payment to the area.

"It's fundamentally a cardinal portion of perchance unlocking further improvement successful places, portion besides retaining what is large astir the place," he said.

Amanda Furniss, enforcement manager of the Dartmouth Heritage Museum, said the milestone is "certainly a measurement successful the close direction."

The depository runs Quaker House successful the projected conservation district. The restored 1785 gathering shares the communicative of the Nantucket Quakers who brought a whaling endeavor to Dartmouth. 

They were liable for successfully lobbying the politician of Nova Scotia to assistance communal onshore to the locals for grazing livestock successful 1788, the unit study noted. Part of that remains the Dartmouth Common nationalist greenish abstraction today.

Furniss said she hopes the caller territory includes humanities interpretation, similar plaques oregon displays, astir the divers past of the country that includes the Mi'kmaq, Jamaican Maroons, Loyalists, and Irish and Scottish stonemasons who constructed the Shubenacadie Canal locks.

"It conscionable volition assistance person a much fuller representation of each of the radical who person been here," Furniss said.

Two nationalist accusation meetings volition instrumentality spot this year, allowing residents to measurement successful connected what they would similar to spot successful a program for the practice territory and however improvement should beryllium controlled.

Financial incentives to assistance spot owners update and attraction for buildings successful the practice territory volition besides beryllium considered, arsenic they are successful different section conservation areas.

The last program is expected to spell to Halifax's practice advisory committee successful aboriginal 2026 earlier going to determination council. There volition beryllium a nationalist proceeding earlier the program becomes final, and aft it's adopted it volition beryllium sent to the province's curate of communities, culture, tourism and practice for last approval.

Expanding oregon creating aggregate caller practice districts is portion of the city's $79-million Housing Accelerator Fund statement with CMHC that aims to create 2,600 nett caller lodging units by 2026.

The metropolis has 3 progressive practice districts connected the Halifax broadside of the harbour: Barrington Street, Schmidtville and Old South Suburb.

The municipality is successful the midst of plans to merge Barrington and the Old South Suburb into a caller downtown Halifax territory to make accordant policies for the area. The caller territory volition adhd the "capital" country including Province House and Historic Properties.