The building was made for Fred C. Manning, a Nova Scotia businessman who built a chain of gas stations and car dealerships during the 1920s and 30s known as the United Service Corporation.

Sydney Perry Dumaresq,[1] one of a family of famous Nova Scotian architects,[2] designed the building in the Streamline Moderne-style, a 1930s variation of Art Deco known for its elegant curves and often associated with transportation facilities of the era.

The Canadian humourist Max Ferguson began his CBC career in the building in 1946, creating the character "Rawhide" to host a morning country and western show that soon became a satirical hit.

However, in the wake of staff reductions and programming cuts, the CBC sold the building in 2014 as part of plans to consolidate television and radio in a new facility on 7067 Chebucto Road in the Armdale neighbourhood of Halifax's West End.

The offices of the classical music organizations Debut Atlantic and the St. Cecilia Concert Series were housed there at the invitation of then-regional radio director Bill Donovan.