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Sweet Basil Bistro dining room facing demolition, By Lindsay Jones Metro News Halifax, Oct 31,2008

Sweet Basil Bistro dining room facing demolition
LINDSAY JONES, METRO HALIFAX
October 31, 2008 03:27
A steam shovel and boarded up windows of a historic downtown building Friday put the community on notice that the former Sweet Basil Bistro dining room is soon to be a pile of rubble.
Armour Group owns the Sweet Basil Bistro at 1870 Upper Water Street and immediately released a statement saying it’s not a registered heritage property, something it says was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia months ago.
Armour president Doug MacIsaac said the building has nothing to do with its controversial Waterside Centre project, which council recently rejected in a tie vote.
“Armour Group has publicly stated its intent to demolish the building for several months regardless of the outcome of the development application process and we have awarded a contract to demolish and remove the building,” MacIsaac wrote.
Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia president Phil Pacey said it’s the end of the building’s 170-year history. “It’s very sad,” he said. “(It’s) one of the key tourist attractions in Nova Scotia, one of the great success stories of the 1970s in heritage preservation in Canada.”
He says the demolition isn’t a surprise since Armour already had the permit and could technically bring it down any time. That’s why he asked people not to blame council’s recent vote against Waterside Centre for the razing.
Waterside would have restored the facades of six heritage buildings on the block of Duke, Hollis and Upper Water streets and connected them with a six-storey glass tower.
Pacey said keeping the building on the block would’ve made it more attractive for a potential land exchange.