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Nearly eight years after Halifax sold the historic Khyber building in the hopes it could be revived, the municipality says the site has become a “threat to safety” — and is taking it back.
The Turret Arts Space Society, formerly the 1588 Barrington Street Building Preservation Society, bought the Khyber for $1 from Halifax in May 2018.
The group originally planned to turn it into an arts and culture hub, later adding the goal of becoming the first designated queer heritage site in Canada.
But Halifax council voted during a private in-camera session on Nov. 18 to buy back the building after staff raised multiple concerns about safety and the society’s ability to deliver the project.
The municipality made the report public on Wednesday.
“The main concern is, to me, the state of the building and … to be able to have a future,” area Coun. Laura White said Thursday.
Coun. Laura White represents Halifax South Downtown for the Halifax Regional Municipality (CBC)
“I’m hoping someone with more money or experience in doing a heritage building comes forward.”
The Khyber has a storied history in Halifax. Erected in 1888 as a Church of England institute, it became a nightclub in the 1970s operated by the Gay Alliance for Equality. In the early 1980s, it was a gallery space before becoming a music venue in the ’90s and early 2000s.
The municipality shuttered the building in 2014 due to building code violations and evidence of hazardous materials such as asbestos.
Between 2018 and 2023, the staff report said the society received more than $700,000 in federal and provincial funding for an impact strategy and new architectural plans. Halifax provided $250,000 for asbestos abatement in addition to seven years’ property tax relief.
But staff said they do not believe the society can raise the project cost of $18.5 million from government and private funding streams.
The report said the society has just over $2,000 in cash with over $43,000 in debt to consultants, utilities and insurance. The group does not have property insurance on the building, but does maintain third-party liability, the report said.
“There is serious concern that after 12 years of remaining vacant, the unoccupied building is a threat to safety through continued deterioration and of risk of fire and damage to abutting buildings such as Neptune Theatre,” the report said.
Staff said Halifax’s sale agreement allows the city to buy the Khyber back for $1 if the upgrades were not done within two years. The society then extended the agreement to three years.
In November, council declined the society’s March request for $1.5 million to get the project “shovel ready,” and create a new ownership model for the Khyber that includes Halifax.
Although the report said the Khyber redevelopment would help address the city’s lack of arts and cultural spaces, staff said that ownership model is unprecedented for Halifax and is too much of a risk “without a sound business plan.”
Turret Arts Space board member, Emily Davidson, said their group is very aware of the safety risks. She said it was the group that brought the current situation to staff’s attention.
The historic Khyber building on Barrington Street in Halifax has been vacant since the municipality closed it in 2014. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)
After the first phase of design and asbestos abatement was done in 2024, Davidson said the society met with all three levels of government to explain the need for $10.5 million in public funds.
“Their delays in considering, in meeting with us, actually are the cause of the risks that they now cite as the reason this project can’t move forward,” Davidson said Thursday.
The society planned to raise the remaining $8 million from private donors.
Davidson said she was disappointed to see council vote to buy the building back without an opportunity for the society to address staff’s concerns.
“When we set a precedent, we have to do new things. And so, you know that is what the Turret Art Space was pitching,” Davidson said.
“Unfortunately, both the report’s generation, and its delivery, happened behind closed doors without … that ability to really work through the details together.”
A close-up look at posters on the front door to the Khyber building in downtown Halifax. The city is buying back the building from a society who had planned to redevelop the building into an arts hub (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)
During the November meeting, council also voted to declare the building surplus and eventually sell it.
Davidson said they are expecting to hear soon whether they received an $8 million federal infrastructure grant through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program.
If they are successful, that may “really change the tide in our dealings with HRM,” Davidson said.
Emily Davidson is a board member with the Turret Arts Space Society, which currently owns Halifax’s historic Khyber building (Turret Arts Space)
CBC asked to speak with Halifax staff about their recommendations. A municipal spokesperson said because the municipality is “undergoing the legal process to reacquire the property,” it cannot comment further on the matter.
Davidson said their society is urging Halifax to halt the buy-back process until they can sit down with municipal staff.
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