Halifax needs to shrug off its cloak of heritage and embrace the future through innovative building design, a public meeting on a new downtown development heard Wednesday night.

But the 60 or so people gathered at a downtown hotel also heard that three historic homes on South Park Street should not be sacrificed for a new development and that 19-storey buildings aren’t always welcome by their neighbours.

A brand new development proposed for the corner of Brenton and South Park streets incited such varied remarks from the crowd that it was at times hard to reconcile them to the same development.

What was "beautiful" to one was someone else’s "blight."

"Would I be opposed to this being in my backyard? No I would not!" proclaimed Rick Layton, whose home on Brenton Place puts him right next door to the proposed development.

Conversely, Larry Haven said he wouldn’t want to continue living in his home on neighbouring Morris Street if the structure went up.

The building, a commercial and residential design by Duffus Romans architecture and proposed by W.M. Fares group, is not permitted under current zoning and planning rules.

However, the group was last night asking for a nod from the downtown planning advisory committee which advises regional council. The public information meeting was the beginning of a long process, which includes at least three stages for rejection before the first shovel would hit the dirt.

Ruth Goldbloom, who lives on Dresden Row, said the Fares team should be thanked for bringing forward such a beautiful design.

"While we have a history in Halifax of not putting up the right structure, we also enjoy a reputation across Canada of being anti-development," she said.

"But there are compromises."

She’s hopeful the building will entice people to repopulate the heart of the city, especially at a time when "we hear in our city about everyone leaving the downtown."

"My kids have gone," agreed Ted Worthington of nearby Birmingham Street.

"We need more density downtown for 25,000 more souls," he said, referring to the city’s plan to direct residential development into the core business area.

After viewing 3-D video presentations along with the requisite side elevations, a few people were bothered by the progression of slides illustrating the shadows the building will cast onto Victoria Park and the Public Gardens across the street.

A man who lives on Brenton Street said the effect on his side of the building will be worse. "Noon on Brenton Street is going to be black," said David Barlow.

Judy and Larry Haven are trying to raise a family on Morris Street and they’re feeling pushed out by the highrises in their neighbourhood.

"We’ll be a theme park in the middle of very tall buildings," Mrs. Haven said of the historic district known as Schmidtville where they live.

"Why does the building have to be 19 storeys? If you built nine storeys would you go broke?" said Mr. Haven. "Why do we have to have another building the same height as Park Victoria?"

That 22-storey building, erected in 1962, ruined the neighbourhood with its wind and shadows, said another downtown homeowner.

"We’ve been suffering the effects of that building ever since," said Lyndon Watkins, who owns houses on Birmingham Street and Dresden Row.

"This will blight the neighbourhood even more."

After a number of people suggested the building would be better at the permitted five-storey height, a local developer who attended the meeting warned the group that good things do not always come in small packages.

"When you build buildings that are five stories, what you end up with is a squat building that covers lots of land … shoebox-type buildings," said Tony Metlej, who is not affiliated with the project.

Cesar Saleh, an engineer with the Fares group, said the building is custom-designed for the site and includes stepped-up effects at the 5th, 13th and 19th storeys so the building gets narrower as it grows.

That differentiates the design from its neighbour Park Vic, he said.