In the middle of Grand Parade is the cenotaph built originally to commemorate the soldiers who served in World War I. Centrally located in Downtown Halifax, the square remains an important civic space used for numerous events including musical performances, political demonstrations, the annual New Year's Eve celebrations, Remembrance Day ceremonies, and Christmas tree lighting.

It comprised an urban grid made up of oblong, rectangular city blocks with the Grand Parade at the centre of the town.

[1] Shortly after arriving in Halifax, Governor Cornwallis ordered framing from Boston for the construction of a church.

As Barrington Street slopes down toward the north of Grand Parade, a retaining wall was built here to keep the square level.

This space originally accommodated ice houses for Mrs. Jane Donaldson, a Granville Street merchant.

It was a Georgian four storey building separated from the square by a dry moat to allow light to the lower floors.

[1] Meanwhile, city offices and council chambers were located at premises on Water Street described at the time as "a trifle porous", "disreputable looking", and "a dirty hole".

[1] At this time Mayor James MacIntosh suggested renaming the square after Queen Victoria as the name Grand Parade bore connotations to a "condition of decay".

He built a circular carriage drive that began at Barrington Street and looped in front of City Hall.

The 128 feet (39 m) long Douglas fir log was transported from British Columbia by the Canadian Pacific Railway to the Bay of Fundy, where it was put aboard a scow and sailed to Digby.

[8] On May 20, 2003 councillors Sheila Fougere and Dawn Sloane brought forward a motion to seek alternative parking elsewhere so the space could be opened for public use, but this was defeated.

[8] Councillor Steve Streatch was one of the most steadfast opponents of moving car parking to the vacant Birk's site, across the street from city hall, because he favoured the convenience of not having to walk the short distance.

[8][9] Council eventually voted to relocate the councillor parking lot from September 1, 2007 (Streatch successfully argued to delay the deadline from the April 1 cutoff originally proposed).

For example, the Queen visited the square on a 10-day tour of Canada in 1994, where she reviewed a guard of honour and laid a wreath at the cenotaph.

[12] The Grand Parade is also a popular site for political demonstrations, and as a starting or ending point for protest marches.

The Cenotaph in the middle of Grand Parade was dedicated on Dominion Day (July 1) 1929 by Former Prime Minister Robert Borden to commemorate those who died in World War I.

There are also three ceremonial wreaths, the names of First and Second World War Battles honours, a dedication, the coat of arms of both Nova Scotia and Canada as well as a Victory Cross.

It is based on the ground plan of the Gibbs church of St. Peter's, Vere Street in London, with later additions such as a larger tower.

During the Halifax Explosion of 1917, a piece of wooden window frame from another building was lodged into the wall of St. Paul's Church, where it remains today.