HALIFAX – Lately I have been looking at “snapshots” I took of downtown Halifax about 1967. It made me realize that for most of my life there have been big holes as lots were cleared and remained empty for years and sometimes decades. These not very clear pictures show the corner of Prince and Market Streets looking south east. I did not take them as a real panorama but they almost fit and together they give a more comprehensive sense of the site.
The desirable little brick building remained isolated for years and was eventually taken down. The empty land behind the billboards is part of the proposed convention centre project – so it has been vacant for about 50 years.
The one useful element I can see in these images are the billboards that screen the empty space. They are big and robust. I can imagine the whole convention centre site surrounded by billboards of that scale, covered with all kinds of wonderful images and advertising brightening and enlivening the street. What about you – can you imagine such a wonder wall?
2 comments
Hi Stephen:
I’m writing a book which, in part, deals with Halifax in 1967. Just wondering if there might be any chance of looking at the snapshots you refer to in this posting?
regards,
john
Hi John
Sorry – lost track of your request. My snapshots don’t really exist as a easily brouseable unit – and ther are not that many. What topics are you interested in? I would mostly have streetscapes , not much on people, and not high in quality.