Coordinates: 44°38′40″N 63°34′19″W / 44.64444°N 63.57194°W / 44.64444; -63.57194
The Maritime Centre in Downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada is an office building home to the regional telecommunications company Bell Aliant (formerly Maritime Telephone & Telegraph, from which it is named).
The building is on the site of the former Capitol Theatre which was demolished in 1974 to make way for the construction of the present tower. Completed in 1977, the original structure had 14 stories; another seven floors were added in 1988. The building stands at 78 metres and has 21 floors, including the two retail levels. It is notable for the strong wind tunnel effect it creates at street level.
Maritime Centre was designed to avoid blocking the view from Citadel Hill to various parts of Halifax Harbour, hence the building's peculiar angle to the street. The project was extremely controversial at the time that it was being developed as certain factions felt that high rise development had no place in Halifax's historic downtown. Consequently a "view-planes" bylaw was enacted concurrently with the development of the project to ensure minimal impact on the view of the harbour from the hill-top fortress from certain vantage points.
The architects were Webb, Zerafa, Menkes, Housden (now WZMH Architects) of Toronto.
Famous quotes containing the word centre:
“A daze had come over his mind, he had another centre of consciousness. In his breast, or in his bowels, somewhere in his body, there had started another activity.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)