Designating heritage buildings : an evaluation of the designation criteria for the Halifax Regional Municipality

Abstract

There are over 400 municipally designated heritage buildings in the Halifax Regional Municipality. These buildings have been evaluated using a set of predetermined criteria created to measure a building's historical and architectural worth. This thesis evaluates these designation criteria for municipal heritage buildings and discusses both their benefits and their disadvantages, as well as the important questions that they raise. The criteria heavily focus on a building's architectural value rather than its historical context and importance. Although the criteria help ensure the preservation of architecturally rare and old buildings, there are few examples of vernacular architecture listed in the Registry of Heritage Properties. This results in an underrepresentation of vernacular architecture in the record of our built heritage, as well as the history of the Municipality as a whole. To further illustrate this issue, an architecturally vernacular building, Robinson's Livery and Stables, is evaluated using the criteria.