On the corner of Creighton and Charles Streets sits the 249-year-old Morris House, a building that wasn’t always a fixture in the unique Halifax neighbourhood.
Morris House was originally slated to be demolished from its Hollis Street location in 2009, but the historic building was ultimately saved, sold for a dollar, and carefully moved through the streets of Halifax to its new location in 2013.
The plan was for it to be revitalized and turned into affordable housing for young adults. Now, three years later, the house sits unfinished, with work still needing to be done.
“Delay is always a problem because there is such a high level of need,” said Carol Charlebois, with Metro Non-Profit Housing.
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The organization teamed up with Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia and the Ecology Action Centre on the project.
Heritage Trust says renovations to the outside of the home are nearly complete, but the interior is still in need of some work.
“We had quite a bit of internal debate on issues inside the house,” said Andrew Murphy with Heritage Trust.
“This is the fourth oldest house in the HRM area and there are a fair number of issues as to preservation and conservation.”
Both Heritage Trust and Metro Non-Profit Housing say one of the reasons renovations are taking so long is because of ongoing concerns between modernizing the home and making it livable.
“I understand the need to think carefully about preservations and to think carefully about needs to. We need surfaces that are durable, easy to keep clean. So it’s a balancing act and it takes some time to do it,” said Charlebois.
Renovations are expected start up again in a few weeks. It’s hoped a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the house will take place in September.
With files from Global’s Dave Squires.
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