I don't want to be disagreeable, but this project by necessity is facadism. A better reconstruction (i.e new construction) would be to keep the original number of floors and a "true reconstruction" would be to restore the original floor layout. I am glad that they are at least keeping the Barrington Street facade and I think they deserve some credit for the way in which they added an extra floor (only one floor will intersect within a window-recess, as shown in this image posted by ns_kid - https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3845/...9de0e245_b.jpg, so it could have been much worse).

I would also like to have seen the original tower restored; it would have made an interesting loft for one of the apartments. Thanks for posting this image - http://www.historicplaces.ca/hpimage...7528_Large.jpg - 1800's architacture certainly had some interesting details.

Awh, that sucks. The tower makes it an entirely different building.


BRAIN TEASER / 'CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE' / THOUGHT EXPERIMENT OF THE DAY: the developers decide that they'd like to restore the tower on top of the NFB building, for the sake of heritage. But they know that it will directly impinge on the view plane.

Question: Would the Nova Scotia Heritage Trust support or oppose the tower's restoration?

It is tough to predict but either way it would delay the development by many months, possibly years since it would require a municipal by-law amendment that would have to be approved by the provincial government (similar to the Fenwick Tower proposal that was 1 -2 feet within a view-plane, they chose instead to change the design).

We are so blessed that GOD in the fullness of time, declared the view planes for Halifax. It would be silly that they cannot be changed or adjusted if they were decided by men.

I keep checking this site for activity whenever I'm nearby, and so far there doesn't appear to be any on-site action, but there are two "For Lease" signs now affixed to the facade. Which is a positive sign, I guess, but a bit funny, since it appears the blasted-ruin-looking facade is for lease.

Hmmm... maybe to take advantage of film festival timing?

FOR LEASE - one bombed-out façade suitable for filming war-based themes... :cool:

Walked by at lunch today and there's finally on-site work happening here. The padlocked door was wide open and there were a bunch of guys inside filling wheelbarrows with trees and bushes that had grown inside.

Cripes. Now I expect an environmental group to come along demanding that the wild growth be saved.

Save the weeds

weeds are being dug out today.
From http://hfxconstruction.tumblr.com/
http://33.media.tumblr.com/f2da70281...slyo1_1280.jpg

Ziobrop, do you have any 'inside' shots?

Three guys, a wheelbarrow and a Dodge Ram. This one'll take a while. :uhh:

looks like three giys, two wheelbarrows, and a garbage can; might not be so bad. :-)

Why on earth aren't they removing the weeds with the other rubble, debris, remains. Don't they have to dig up the foundation anyways?

Maybe the weeds have to be put in with organic waste.

I just think it's great something is happening here.

:iagree:

They are heritage weeds so they need to preserve them for infinity. ;)

There is no practical way to get equipment in, or more importantly material out other then by hand.

So they are going to remove everything by hand and build it one brick at a time by hand. This should be finished by 2320

Or longer, if they hire the 5 Moes.

Even worse, the 3 moes.

Well, its already been how many years? :grumpycat:

getting equipment in is fine. its getting the dirt out. maybee a conveyor through the front door. will be interesting to see.

they left the front open, and i was able to get these:
http://31.media.tumblr.com/b9a07af43...uslyo1_500.jpghttp://31.media.tumblr.com/38180c8b5...uslyo2_500.jpg

Three wheelbarrows, this should move along quickly.

So true, that made me smile, the city needs to just let development happen

I asked the guys doing the digging. Apparently they only have 3' of dirt to dig before they hit rock. They didn't seem to think it was a lot of work

There is no way to get backhoes back there, it has walls on four sides. At least when they are pouring cement it can be pumped in from the street!

Maybe not a backhoe, but a bobcat could probably make it in through the front entry (double doors width); just not the type of CAT that Keith would prefer.

There is still time to fix this mistake. A rogue D7 could make a 90-degree turn off Barrington and make short work of this eyesore in mere minutes.

Here's hoping that you don't win the lottery in the next month or so! I can see the headlines: Man buys D7 after winning the lottery and mistakenly turns the remains of the NFB façade into a pile of rubble. "I didn't mean to knock it down", says recent lottery winner Keith P, "it was just a rookie mistake". :haha:

After the building has started, I remove my hex on your winning the lottery, though. I don't really want to jinx anybody's chances of winning, just want to save what's left of the building... ;)

Made me laugh. Thought of this: :shrug:

Too bad the board doesn't have a bulldozer smilie.

:Titanic: not a bulldozer, but probably reflects Keith's view of the building.

Couldn't find one knocking down a building, so this will have to do...

http://www.urbana.k12.oh.us/uhs/anim...ng_dirt_sc.gif

:cheers:

on my way in this morning, i noticed there was a mini excavator in the building, and a conveyor leading out one of the windows into a dumpster.

Looks like they could get some equipment in.

It has been a couple of months since the last update. Is work still ongoing or has it halted for the winter?

No they still seem To be working in there.
I see them around. Not sure what's going on but they are doing something

There is a small excavator working inside the site. It is very slow going as it has to navigate its bucket through a window opening for every scoop to get it into the large bin that is on the sidewalk. No visible progress from the street.

Surprised this development is taking to long. Doesn't seem so major to me. 5 Floors. No massive expansion.

When there's not enough room to swing a cat, it's takes some time. The CD plus building was also a bit tight and the early bits getting into the ground took some time.

I'm guessing that a lot of it has to do with clearing out the lot (it was full of pretty sizable trees and a lot of garbage) and as JET says, probably it's more delicate than usual since there's the old facade to consider. There's probably extra care they have to take to ensure they don't, like, knock it over.

From this morning.

https://36.media.tumblr.com/9040325c...8kjeo1_540.jpg

Still looks like the ugly bombed-out shell it has always been. Where's that Cat D-8... :yes:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8XDe1TCcAEcq03.jpg:large
Source

The door has been open a lot lately when I walk by, but not visible progress.

https://40.media.tumblr.com/6156588c...kjeo1_1280.jpg

It is good to see an update on the NFB project. Hopefully once the snow melts the progress will accelerate.

:iagree:

Really looking forward to progress on this one!

There's steel decking making up the second floor visible from the door when I was by this weekend.

I thought I saw that as well when I drove by on the bus last week, could just see what looked like metal floor joists for a second floor as I went by; even with all the snow the Moes have been busy. That'll make it much harder for a random CAT to knock it down.

Maybe a rogue AC Airbus can stop by.