Truro eyes removing 1899 farmers’ market hose tower

An engineering firm has recommended that the Town of Truro remove the deteriorating brick hose tower on its farmers’ market building, a municipally designated heritage property that was built as the town’s fire hall in 1899, by July 2027.

Rural Roots Engineering & Design of Debert, N.S., found cracks and voids where bricks have come loose, brick debris on the building’s roof and problems with a brick veneer at the top of the tower, CBC News reported. The firm also recommended steps to stop falling bricks from damaging the roof, and a fence now keeps people back from the tower.

Town staff first flagged the problem this spring. A briefing note to council from the town’s engineering and public works department warned that missing brick posed a potential public hazard, that repairs could be costly because the damage might go deeper than it appeared, and that taking the tower down to roof level would likely have to be done by hand.

Jason Fox, the town’s director of planning, told council this month that a mason working on another project had raised concerns about visible cracking and swelling of the bricks. The tower was used to dry fire hoses when the building served as Truro’s fire hall, a role it played for more than a century. It has housed the Truro Farmers’ Market for about 15 years.

“The goal for both the market and the town is to minimize the impact on the market and ensure the building is safe,” said Amanda Oberswain, the market’s president.

The town has not said what removal would cost or whether the tower would have to be rebuilt because of the heritage designation. Fox told council the designation protects character-defining elements, including masonry on the facade. Coun. Ian McGrath said the cost of keeping that character could be a reason to remove the designation, though Fox called that idea premature.

Some people in Truro’s civic square said they would be sorry to see part of the landmark go. The town is also working with the ReCover Initiative on a federally funded retrofit study of the building at 15 Young Street, looking at energy use, accessibility and future uses.

For more from smaller Atlantic communities, see our Atlantic towns page and Halifax’s audit of its own buildings.

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