{"id":14789,"date":"2013-11-26T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2013-11-26T12:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/?p=14789"},"modified":"2013-11-27T22:19:28","modified_gmt":"2013-11-28T02:19:28","slug":"rose-name-morses-tea-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2013\/11\/26\/rose-name-morses-tea-building\/","title":{"rendered":"A Rose by Any Other Name?: The Morse’s Tea Building"},"content":{"rendered":"

HALIFAX –<\/strong> The city’s most controversial paint job is coming back to Regional Council. On Wednesday, the Heritage Advisory Committee will consider an application by Starfish Properties to alter the Morse\u2019s Tea Building\u2019s distinctive early 20th century signage. There is a catch though: Starfish has already painted over the signs and by doing so, appears to have violated the provincial Heritage Property Act<\/em>. (See our look at last year’s whitewash here.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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The Morse’s Tea Building after the paint job, The Coast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Morse\u2019s Tea Building was constructed in 1841 and was originally known as the Jerusalem Warehouse. After a fire in 1927, the building took on its current look when two additional floors were added above the old ironstone warehouse and the iconic Morse\u2019s Teas signage was painted on between the 5th and 6th floor windows. The building was almost torn down in the 1970s to make way for a waterfront expressway, but Halifax City Council, ultimately, cancelled the expressway plan, saving the Morse’s Tea Building and the the other old waterfront warehouses that now make up Historic Properties. The building has symbolically marked the main entry into Downtown Halifax for the last 50 years.<\/p>\n

Over the decades, Haligonians have developed a real attachment to the Morse\u2019s Tea Building and its distinctive signage. The signage had significant heritage value. It was a visual connection to the company that occupied the building for nearly 80 years and gave the structure its current look. It was also a surviving remnant from an era when ads and signs were directly painted onto buildings, almost all of which are now gone. It was authentic bit of character that had broad appeal.<\/p>\n

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Morse’s Tea Building circa 1920s, Dalhousie University Archives and Special Collections<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Starfish moved last October to paint over the signs, the company set off a firestorm of outrage (Spacing<\/a>, The\u00a0Coast<\/a>,\u00a0CBC<\/a>, Herald<\/a>). Leaving the painted-over white bands in place for the last year has only added further insult to injury. Starfish has a well-deserved reputation for preserving heritage buildings in Halifax with several successful past projects, so the paint job fiasco caught many by surprise.<\/p>\n

The Morse\u2019s Tea Building has been a registered municipal heritage property since 1981. The 2008 heritage character statement identified its significant features including:<\/p>\n