CITYnews halifax: Council to revisit future use of Halifax Memorial Library

CITYnews halifax / By Steve Gow

The future of the long-vacant Halifax Memorial Library Building will be the focus of Tuesday’s municipal council meeting.

Of the many topics listed on the agenda for city council to discuss will be the Spring Garden Road site where the building has sat vacant since 2014.

The Halifax Memorial Library Building is a much-debated landmark that has a dark history.

According to Saint Mary’s University archaeologist Dr. Jonathan Fowler, a poor house once stood on the site and under the old Halifax Memorial Library, it’s thought thousands could be buried in the Poor House Cemetery.

In July 2024, council adopted recommendations in a staff report that directed the development of a park plan for the Halifax Memorial Library site, citing the building’s poor condition as well as limitations on redevelopment based on the site being a burial ground.

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Part of the recommendations included removing or demolishing a portion or all of the library.

Since then, many groups and community advocates have protested the plans, instead wanting the building preserved, even as a 2025 assessment found that most of the building was in poor-to-failed condition.

On Tuesday, councillors are expected to vote on a motion to discontinue its direction for the library, including the plans to destroy the building.

The Community Planning and Economic Development Standing Committee is asking council to direct the Chief Administrative Officer to draft a new report for its potential reuse and return with a report outlining those potential uses for its consideration.

In the committee’s report, issued in May, it noted that cost estimates could climb as high as $7.8 million to address the current deficiencies.

The Halifax Memorial Library was built in 1951 and served as the main branch of the Halifax Regional Library system for 62 years.