Situated at 1740 Granville Street, it is across from the Province House in downtown Halifax in the province of Nova Scotia.[2]
Initially known as the Kenny Building, it was named after Thomas and Edward Kenny's early venture as dry goods merchants on George and Granville Streets in Halifax.[3] Construction on the building began in 1841, with the initial design featuring a two-and-a-half-storey Georgian stone warehouse and a hipped roof.[1]
The building was redeveloped in 1863 to house the dry goods firm T. & E. Kenny, owned by the Kenny brothers.[4] During this period, the Scottish-born architect David Stirling was tasked with planning the building's redevelopment, while George Blaiklock handled the construction.[1]
Edward Kenny, together with his son, later established the Merchants' Bank of Halifax in 1901, a precursor to the Royal Bank of Canada.[1]
The property was acquired in 1900 by William Dennis, owner of the Halifax Herald, when T. & E. Kenny, Wholesale Goods, moved locations.[5] The building was renovated with offices to serve as the headquarters of the Halifax Herald and the Evening Mail, two Halifax newspapers owned by Dennis.[2]
The Halifax & Bermudas Cable Company had a prominent position in the upper floors of the Dennis Building.[6] The Dennis Building connected to the Canadian Pacific Railway's telegraph system, providing communication across Canada. A dedicated landline linked it directly to Bamfield, Vancouver, the Pacific Cable's terminus for Australia and New Zealand, and also connected to a cable reaching the West Indies via Bermuda. All these lines operated from the Dennis Building.[7]
Nearly destroyed by fire in 1912, the Dennis building was extensively damaged. Architect Henry David Jost was commissioned to restore the interior and add three new floors.[5]
The new additions were constructed in concrete and steel by Samuel
Manners Brookfield under the design plans of Jost.[1] Neighboring buildings at the intersection of Barrington and George underwent reconstruction.[8]
In 1913, the building's lessor, Dennis Realty Corporation, leased the top floor of the Dennis building to The Department of Militia and Defence.[9] The building became the home office of The Trinidad Electric Co by 1927.[10] After The Herald moved, the Halifax Dennis Building was acquired and repurposed by the Government of Nova Scotia as office space for provincial government employees.[5]
Registered as a heritage property in 2018, the Kenny-Dennis building's designation followed a third-party application opposed at first by the provincial government.[11]
