HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > Canada > Atlantic Provinces > St. John's


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #81  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2008, 3:23 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
^It might look nice, but you wouldn't want to live there, not in it's present state anyway. The blue part is not too old, but the rest is, and as with all (most) old buildings in SJ, they might want to preserve it as something (maybe a theme restaurant), but I wonder if you would you feel comfortable living in a former prison.

I looked for some info on it, and found this:

Quote:
Erected in the 1850s, HMP is one of the oldest buildings in the province and remains the largest provincially owned jail. The original section is long past due for replacement since it is too cramped, cold and damp for use as a modern correctional facility. It was renovated in 1945, 1981 and 1994 but the site is not really open for expansion of substantial alteration.

HMP was practically in the woods in 1850 when St. John's barely spread up from the harbour as far as Military Road. Today, HMP is smack in the middle of one of the tonier neighbourhoods. It is run-down and the exterior is poorly maintained.

http://bondpapers.blogspot.com/2005/...l-updated.html
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #82  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2008, 5:25 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
More Trivia

Time for some trivia; this one most people don't know, and I didn't until recently. According to the sources I have listed below, Newfoundland used to have the tallest structure in Canada.

Quote:
The Cape Race LORAN-C transmitter is a LORAN-C transmitter at Cape Race, Newfoundland, Canada.

The Cape Race LORAN-C transmitter was used as an antenna tower until February 2nd, 1993. It was a 411.48 m (1350 ft) tall guyed mast, built in 1965. This mast was the tallest structure in Canada until the construction of the CN Tower in Toronto, and remained the second-tallest structure until its collapse on February 2, 1993.
This tower now holds the record as the tallest destroyed structure in Canada.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Ra...-C_transmitter

http://www.answers.com/topic/cape-ra...-c-transmitter

http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=56824

The current existing tower which replaced the old one in 1993 is 260.3 meters, and is listed here in the SSP diagrams:

http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=57074

Cape Race is about an hour and a half drive south of St. John's.

Edit:
I was a bit skeptical of this myself, but here is further proof of the height of the tower from an engineering firm:
Quote:
Canadian Coast Guard - Cape Race, Newfoundland. Failure investigation of 1380' Loran C tower.
http://www.varcon.ca/OurExperience/SampleProjects.html

Last edited by Architype; Apr 8, 2008 at 3:06 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #83  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2008, 1:15 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
Star of The Sea Hall

I recently heard a news report that the owners want to tear down this building, the Star of the Sea Hall on Henry Street, but there is no other news about it, no mention of anything to replace it, and I think it was on April 1. I don't believe unique structures like this one should be torn down. Although it is not that old (1920) there is a historical significance with the site (it's the third one on the site). It seems like it should be converted to condos or some other use instead. Has anyone heard anything about this?

It's listed here in the Register of Historic Places:
http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-v...y.aspx?id=2082
http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-v...e.aspx?id=2082




(my photos)


Credit: Historic Places.ca

Edit: Here is the story with an audio link:
Quote:
Star of the Sea Hall
The owner of the Star of the Sea hall in downtown St. John's wants to tear it down. We fnd out why... and why the city says no.
(Jeff Gilhooly with city councillor Shannie Duff)
Listen to this audio feature (Runs 5:37

http://www.cbc.ca/thestjohnsmorningshow/#tuesday
To sum up what was said, it seems the new owner was denied a normal liquor license from the city because it is in a residential area, so he wanted to tear it down and possibly build townhouses. Since it is a registered heritage structure, this is not likely to happen.

Last edited by Architype; Apr 6, 2008 at 1:53 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #84  
Old Posted Apr 7, 2008, 1:06 AM
Smevo's Avatar
Smevo Smevo is offline
Sarcstic Caper in Exile
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Calgary
Posts: 3,110
That one's worth saving (probably why it's already a registered heritage structure). It also should be easy enough to convert to condos, which would give the owner the multi-unit residential he's looking for, and still keep the structure in tact. I love the pillars above the entrance, don't know why because I usually don't, but on this building it works.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #85  
Old Posted Apr 8, 2008, 3:10 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
^In the first story I heard, it sounded like they were going to tear it down, but the second story (CBC) confirms that won't happen. It might be suitable for condos, but I think it's primary use is as a public hall. This site was also the location of the first catholic church, and two other halls similar to this; I believe all were destroyed in fires.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #86  
Old Posted Apr 11, 2008, 5:43 PM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
Housing Prices

St. John's housing price increases (%) are almost twice the national average:

Quote:
Material, labour and land development costs helped drive up new home prices in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador to record levels. St. John's recorded a year-over-year increase of 12.2 per cent while Halifax prices climbed 11.4 per cent.
New housing price increases

Feb 2007 - Feb 2008 (%) Jan 2008 - Feb 2008 (%)

Canada			  6.2  0.3 
St. John's 12.2 2.9
Halifax 11.4 0
Charlottetown 2.4 0
Saint John,
Fredericton and Moncton 2.1 -0.4
Quebec 4.0 0.5
Montreal 4.7 1.0
Ottawa–Gatineau 3.3 1.3
Toronto and Oshawa 4.4 0.3
Hamilton 3.6 0.8
St. Catharines–Niagara 5.3 1.9
Kitchener 2.0 -0.1
London 3.7 0
Windsor 0.3 0.3
Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay 6.3 1.2
Winnipeg 14.5 0.1
Regina 28.6 7.0
Saskatoon 58.3 4.3
Calgary 5.2 -0.3
Edmonton 14.8 -0.9
Vancouver 6.6 0.2
Victoria 1.6 0


http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/200...ing-index.html

Last edited by Architype; Apr 12, 2008 at 2:07 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #87  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2008, 7:01 PM
MrChills's Avatar
MrChills MrChills is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Glovertown, Newfoundland
Posts: 539
Keep that news coming! I purchased as fast as I could (1 week) when I moved back to St. Johns in October, and glad I did; housing has been near impossible to find. I think the increase is greater than what stats Canada listed and feel its only beginning to heat up here.
__________________
Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind
http://twitter.com/thefeltham
http://reverbnation.com/overlay
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #88  
Old Posted Apr 17, 2008, 12:01 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
^I guess last year was a good time to buy. I thought in some previous years there was not much increase, or none at all. I think it will keep going up, as it's still low in comparison to many other places. I've also heard that people returning or investing from other provinces (mostly Alberta) is driving it up.
________________________________

I noticed some new SJs photos today by Home in my shoes; nice job - here's the link, in case anyone misses checking in the City Photos section:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=149408
________________________________

Also, here's something in the news about lead paint contamination:
Quote:
St. John’s soil lead levels very high
50 per cent of samples over Canadian limit
The Telegram

The contamination in soil in St. John’s is comparable to major industrial centers like Chicago or New Orleans, results from a study released today show.
After centuries of burning coal and lead paint, Trevor Bell says Memorial University researchers found that half of samples taken from all of St. John’s neighbourhoods exceeded the stringent Canadian limits for lead content.
In the highly contaminated downtown area, all of the samples exceeded Canadian standards.
Even the more lenient American standards for soil lead were exceeded by 25 per cent of the locations in St. John’s.
“As residents of St. John’s we will have to live with that legacy of hundreds of years of coal burning, leaded paint in our houses and leaded gasoline emissions,” Bell says.
The lead contamination is the most acute in the areas around houses built before the 1960, where many coats of lead paint have had years to flake off and contaminate the soil, the study found.
http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=125641&sc=79
The article goes on to say not to worry too much. I am thinking that must also be the case in many other cities too, where wood siding was used a lot.
_________________________________

Another article, unrelated:

Quote:
Downtown Memorial For Constabulary
April 15, 2008

The capital city is moving ahead with plans to construct an RNC memorial at the intersection of Gower Street , Long's Hill and Queen's Road. Councillor Shannie Duff says the site will include a sculpture depicting an RNC officer assisting a young girl. Duff says the cost to the city will be close to 69-thousand dollars. Duff says the city and the Downtown Development Commission have proposed a cost-shared funding arrangement with ACOA. The total cost of the project will be almost 276-thousand dollars.

http://www.vocm.com/news-info.asp?id=28026
Quote:
The site is proposed as open space with traditional stone work, lighting and an aluminum railing.
http://www.downtownstjohns.com/news/...1426.html#more
I guess that would be in the small park area at the foot of Longs Hill, which is a nice place for it.

Last edited by Architype; Apr 18, 2008 at 5:21 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #89  
Old Posted Apr 18, 2008, 9:18 AM
HomeInMyShoes's Avatar
HomeInMyShoes HomeInMyShoes is offline
arf
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: File 13
Posts: 13,984
So, is it Georgetown or Georgestown?



The whole thread of 50mm stupidity can be seen here.
__________________

-- “We heal each other with kindness, gentleness and respect.” -- Richard Wagamese
-- “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not.” -- Dr. Seuss

Last edited by HomeInMyShoes; Apr 18, 2008 at 9:38 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #90  
Old Posted Apr 18, 2008, 6:45 PM
HomeInMyShoes's Avatar
HomeInMyShoes HomeInMyShoes is offline
arf
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: File 13
Posts: 13,984
Round two of 50mm stupidity is up now.
__________________

-- “We heal each other with kindness, gentleness and respect.” -- Richard Wagamese
-- “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not.” -- Dr. Seuss
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #91  
Old Posted Apr 18, 2008, 8:51 PM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
^More brilliance than stupidity.

I think it is Georgestown, according to Wikipedia, originally called George Winter's town, and not after King George or George Washington, or George Strombolopolis.

Either might be correct though, considering there are three ways to pronounce even Quidi Vidi.

Check these links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges...C_St._John%27s

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/50c767a6-e...nclick_check=1

Quote:
"It's rather interesting because the oil people coming from Alberta with their young families tend to want to live in the suburbs," Stone says, "but the workers coming in from Europe seem to like the older homes."
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #92  
Old Posted Apr 18, 2008, 9:42 PM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
Here's a loft conversion in Georgestown which I like:

^my photo

Last edited by Architype; Apr 22, 2008 at 2:55 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #93  
Old Posted Apr 20, 2008, 10:15 PM
Nuks Nuks is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 4
Quote:
Originally Posted by Architype View Post
Here's a loft conversion in Georgestown which I like:

Remax has some interior pictures. I've always loved the exterior, but I'm not so hot about the inside:





Reply With Quote
     
     
  #94  
Old Posted Apr 22, 2008, 2:35 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
^Welcome to the forum. That's not a bad space as lofts are typically like that, with two floors squeezed into one where there are double height ceilings. St. John's wasn't really an industrial city, so there weren't that many large loft type buildings to be converted. I think the more unique developments like this are great.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #95  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2008, 12:19 AM
Nuks Nuks is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 4
Thanks! I was pleasantly surprised to find active threads on here, as the Atlantic Canada skyscraper city forum has pretty much died off.

I think the reason I was let down by the interior was because I used to go by that building almost every day and was always interested in it. It seemed kind of mysterious.. very introverted, one of only a few buildings in the area that wasn't residential (the pub and autobody shop etc.). Maybe I got my hopes up too much?

Anyway, it's great to see a few residents of St. John's on here. Hopefully I'll contribute a bit to the forum!
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #96  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2008, 8:23 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
^Yes, this forum is more active for Canadian topics, and with all the oil development in Nfld I anticipate more activity in the future.

_____________________________


St. John's filming begins for Love and Savagery

Quote:
John N. Smith directs $6.5-million feature

Last Updated: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 | 12:38 PM ET CBC News

Filming begins in St. John's on Wednesday on Love and Savagery, the latest film by award-winning director John N. Smith.

Montreal-born Smith, who also helmed TV series The Englishman's Boy and Random Passage, is in charge of the $6.5-million feature centred on an impossible love story.

Set in 1968 in Newfoundland and Ireland, it is the story of a geologist and poet, played by Newfoundland native Allan Hawco, who falls in love with a young Irish woman who plans to devote her life to the church, a role played by Irish actress Sarah Greene.

They meet while he is studying the bleak landscape of the Burren, the rocky limestone area in northwestern Ireland. The traditional community looks askance at their relationship and the young woman is faced with a difficult choice.

The shooting in Newfoundland will continue for the next four weeks.
Rest of CBC story Here
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #97  
Old Posted Apr 28, 2008, 5:59 AM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
New Ferry

The NS - Nfld ferry route is about to get an improvement; this should be a boost for all Nfld, including St. John's, by making travel to the mainland a little easier.

Quote:
Feds put $101M toward new Marine Atlantic ferry
Last Updated: Saturday, April 26, 2008
CBC News

The Crown corporation that the runs the ferry service linking southern Newfoundland with Nova Scotia is getting a new ferry that will offer substantially more capacity than any of its current vessels.

The new ship will be able to carry 531 cars, about 50 per cent more than the capacity of each of the ferries MV Caribou and MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood. It will also offer amenities including a spa, a children's play area and a trucker's lounge.

"There's a lot more cabins — 196, [compared with] 50 on the current fleet. The public areas appear to be much nicer. They're well appointed," said Robert Crosbie, who chairs Marine Atlantic.

Brian Button, the mayor of Port aux Basques, is pleased to see the new ship coming on stream.

"It's a lot more like a cruise ship," Button said.
Rest of story HERE
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #98  
Old Posted Apr 28, 2008, 7:43 PM
Architype's Avatar
Architype Architype is offline
♒︎ Empirically Canadian
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 🍁 Canada
Posts: 11,934
Although it's the St. John's section, this is from a recent article about Halifax:

Quote:
Halifax needs tall buildings to attract more business: development agency exec

Michael Tutton, THE CANADIAN PRESS
ATLANTIC
Last Update: Apr 24, 2008 6:31 PM

HALIFAX - It's economically vital that Halifax city council allow exceptions to proposed rules on downtown building heights, says the chief executive of Nova Scotia's economic development agency.

Council is expected to hear a proposal next month that would set firm height restrictions in the downtown to protect the view of Halifax harbour from the top of Citadel Hill and ensure that streets aren't cast into deep shadows.

The height guidelines are part of a broader proposal to create an urban plan for the city's downtown.

Under current policies, maximum heights must be negotiated through a lengthy process.

Stephen Lund, chief executive of Nova Scotia Business Inc., told an audience of businesspeople Thursday that the city needs more office space if his agency hopes to attract more businesses to the province.

"If we don't do anything, then it's probably going to be game over," he said.

Without "flexibility" in height restrictions, it's possible that businesses the agency is trying to attract to the city will choose another location, he said.

Lund said companies want to be downtown, where the city hasn't had a major new tall building in 18 years.
Rest of article HERE

I posted this here because the same issues were discussed in St. John's, even decades ago, and the decisions were made then. To make a further point about this, Halifax's proposed limits of 7 storeys are not as strict as St. Johns's 4 storey limit, and the area there is not as large.

Is this a case of apples and oranges? Do existing tight controls and heritage regulations work to restrict or prevent economic growth, are there other and better balanced ways? I am not anti-heritage conservation, but would downtown be better off today without it's office buildings and larger hotels?


Map of St. John's Heritage Area:
(roughly covers from the Battery to Waterford Bridge Rd, Empire Avenue and Lemarchant Rd. (about 3.5 km x 1.5 km).

(source MUN)
http://www.mun.ca/geog/research/heritage.php

The four storey height limit applies to all areas in red shades (some exceptions have been made). This is essentially all of the commercial downtown core and it's surrounding areas which are primarily heritage residential, small commercial, and institutional areas. The grey areas are excluded, but are all about 90% occupied by high-rise or mid-rise, parking lots, or contain newer or lower grade residential use such as public housing and non heritage type structures. Downtown contains only about two medium size rental buildings I believe; the tallest is 6 floors. If a developer wants to build anything greater than that, they would likely have to go to suburban areas outside of this map, or go through a sometimes lengthy process which would most likely be rejected, which happened recently. Most of what surrounds the heritage area is also residential with restrictive zoning, including some upper class neighborhoods, port industrial land, The Battery Heritage area, and a lot of very steep terrain including Signal Hill National Historic Park.

Last edited by Architype; May 3, 2008 at 11:51 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #99  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2008, 2:02 AM
Smevo's Avatar
Smevo Smevo is offline
Sarcstic Caper in Exile
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Calgary
Posts: 3,110
I think heritage and modern structures can successfully coexist side by side without artificial height limits. I don't mind restrictions on "building form" or materials (as long as they're quality materials), but I've never understood how an artificially imposed maximum height helps a heritage area, especially since the impulse would be to increase the floorplate area to make up for lost square-footage of the overall structure, thus putting more strain on the neighbouring heritage building. Also, what makes an area interesting is variety, instead of the monotony that heritage groups attempt to ensure. Anyway, that's just my .
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #100  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2008, 4:24 PM
HomeInMyShoes's Avatar
HomeInMyShoes HomeInMyShoes is offline
arf
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: File 13
Posts: 13,984
The mayoral election is coming up. Where are all the candidates to? I've seen a few signs for one person so far: "Leadership...change." Did someone use the change word?

I also heard on the radio this morning that there was an iceberg in The Gut. So I had to go look:



Apparently there's about 500 on the way from Greenland so the potential for a great iceberg viewing season is there. Get out and enjoy them if you can.
__________________

-- “We heal each other with kindness, gentleness and respect.” -- Richard Wagamese
-- “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not.” -- Dr. Seuss
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > Canada > Atlantic Provinces > St. John's
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 5:22 AM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.