On October 30, 2024 the Turret Arts Space announced the details of our plan to redevelop 1588 Barrington Street as an accessible, multipurpose hub for art and community.
As you may know, the Turret Arts Space Society has been the owner of 1588 Barrington Street, the former location of the Turret Club, since 2018 after successfully advocating to save the building since 2014. In 2019, we renamed our organization to honour the legendary queer roots of the building. But a name is not enough to mark the importance of the Turret Club and the Gay Alliance for Equality’s contribution to creating local gay and lesbian culture and promoting 2SLGBTQIA+ civil rights.
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Turret’s plan details our goal to have the building officially designated as a Queer Heritage Site at the municipal, provincial and national level. This designation would make the Turret Arts Space the first Queer Heritage Site in Canada, an unprecedented accomplishment.
In addition to formal designation, we also plan to co-create at Queer Heritage a visitor experience to bring the stories of the Turret Club and GAE to life. We will integrate gay and lesbian history into the present and the future with permanent and rotating public art, events and more! Our plan also includes a bookable multipurpose room, which creates new gathering space in downtown Halifax. We hope in this way, The Turret Arts Space can support the present day social and cultural needs of former Turret Club goers—all in a universally accessible facility.
At the heart of co-creation is the idea that the history of the Turret Club and GAE needs to be told by-and-for the people who lived it. We know consultation and work alongside knowledge keepers from the Turret Club and GAE is pivotal. Part of the funding we are raising for the redevelopment of 1588 Barrington Street is for a comprehensive community engagement, planning, and activation of the Queer Heritage spaces and building elements. We want such a consultation process to reflect the self-empowerment at the heart of the Turret Club and GAE.
Until now, we haven’t reached out publicly to former GAE and Turret Club members. We know first-hand what it feels like to be consulted again and again without meaningful action. Now that the project strategy has been proven feasible, and the public announcement has been launched, we are ready to engage with you in a meaningful way.
If you danced, organized, or performed at the Turret Club, we want to meet you! We are excited to work with you to bring the memory of the Turret Club to life, and with public funding, we will be able to take this project to the next phase.
Right now, your story of your days at the Turret Club could make a big impact to the future of this project. We’ve launched a letter writing campaign to show community support for the Turret Arts Space to all three levels of government to urge their investment in the project. We are encouraging everyone with Turret Club memories to share the importance of this space with our representatives.
Click here to send your letter today!
With gaiety, Turret Arts Space Society
