[Dartmouth] Lotus Point Living | 25 m | 7 fl | Completed

[Jonovision]

20171210_133229_HDR by Jonovision23, on Flickr

20171210_133314_HDR by Jonovision23, on Flickr

[Jonovision]

20180105_140658 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

[Jstaleness]

I'm a bit confused. I was at Souper Duper Soup yesterday and noticed the pole in the post above was removed and a new one closer to the corner has been installed and is visible in the posts prior to the one above. What I am confused about is the most recent post has the additional floor so must have been taken after right? Am I crazy? Temporary poles being used??

[beyeas]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

I'm a bit confused. I was at Souper Duper Soup yesterday and noticed the pole in the post above was removed and a new one closer to the corner has been installed and is visible in the posts prior to the one above. What I am confused about is the most recent post has the additional floor so must have been taken after right? Am I crazy? Temporary poles being used??

I think it is just a parallax error, and is based on the angle the photos are taken at. The pole that looks to be in front of the middle of the new building, in the latest pic, is actually the pole that is to the left in the previous pic. It looks to have moved, but I don't think it has.

[Halifax]

No, the pole hasn't moved lol

[Keith P.]

There are 2 poles: a newer one at the corner with Victoria and the original one (with some signs attached) that is near the boundary of the lot for the gray house and this development.

Another opportunity missed to underground some wires.

[JET]

The disappearing pole is in both photos and has a Christmas banner. Took me a bit to figure the angles out.

[yal]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Another opportunity missed to underground some wires.

Typical visionless Halifax developers and visionless municipality for not forcing it for new developments. Sad.

[OldDartmouthMark]

I agree that undergrounding wires results in a nice appearance and has many practical advantages in an area that is prone to power outages due to trees falling on wires during wind and ice storms.

However, especially in this particular case, it would seem rather inefficient and pointless to underground them piecemeal on a per-development basis. It doesn't seem very cost effective to bury 2 or 3 sections of wire adjacent to a new development and leave the rest as it has been for the past 80 years or so. Not to mention, it would look 'odd'...

IMHO: either do it all or leave it as is.

BTW, who is responsible for covering the costs of undergrounding? IIRC, NS Power is responsible for the electrical infrastructure when it's above ground, but who would be responsible for the act of burying them? The city is typically responsible for everything at grade or underground, outside of the property line.

And... who would ultimately end up paying for it - us, as NS Power ratepayers, or us as Halifax taxpayers?

[JET]

I heard that the developer has bought the apartment building behind the development and are using that driveway for the concrete pumper for the top floors. I expect that the small building will eventually be demolished.

[OldDartmouthMark]

It's interesting to reflect on what used to be there - Check out Google streetside from 2009:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.66850...2!8i6656?dcr=0

For those who care, Ferguson's Auto Parts used to be the go-to for parts in Dartmouth, back before the days of the chain stores like Carquest coming to town. The adjacent block surrounded by Victoria, Ochterloney, and Pine used to contain two service stations, a Shell and a Gulf (later Ultramar).

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.66842...2!8i6656?dcr=0

On the opposite corner was the Bowladrome bowling alley.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.66850...2!8i6656?dcr=0

Not so easy to see, but this area is around the center of this photograph from 1959-60:
[IMG][/IMG]

https://novascotia.ca/archives/NSIS/...es.asp?ID=1405

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by JET

I heard that the developer has bought the apartment building behind the development and are using that driveway for the concrete pumper for the top floors. I expect that the small building will eventually be demolished.

Yes. Colin and I took a walk down the other day to take a look. They've removed a bunch of the bedrock outcropping on the apartment site so the trucks could get through. The driveway was a mess of rutted mud from where the trucks went through; can't say I'd be happy if I was one of the apartment tenants. It'll be interesting to see what the developer does with that apartment site; it's not that big and is really close to the back side of Lotus Point. It's too bad they didn't own it from the start so they could integrate it into the Lotus Point design.

Mark, that photo makes me really sad the post office tower burnt down. I'm curious what that building is in the area that is now the post office parking lot. The post office building is pretty empty now. I went in yesterday to inquire about getting a Canada Post van moved (it was in my parking spot) and they said there were only two people in the whole building. I wonder how much of a future it has as a postal location. Hopefully, if Canada Post ever does divest, it doesn't get demolished and instead gets integrated into whatever happens on the site. Maybe with a reconstruction of the tower (one can dream...).

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Mark, that photo makes me really sad the post office tower burnt down. I'm curious what that building is in the area that is now the post office parking lot. The post office building is pretty empty now. I went in yesterday to inquire about getting a Canada Post van moved (it was in my parking spot) and they said there were only two people in the whole building. I wonder how much of a future it has as a postal location. Hopefully, if Canada Post ever does divest, it doesn't get demolished and instead gets integrated into whatever happens on the site. Maybe with a reconstruction of the tower (one can dream...).

That tower and the original St Peters, also visible in this pic, were real architectural gems for Dartmouth. So sad they are gone

[JET]

The inkbottle house in Dartmouth was also unique
http://www.octagon.bobanna.com/CANADA.html

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Yes. Colin and I took a walk down the other day to take a look. They've removed a bunch of the bedrock outcropping on the apartment site so the trucks could get through. The driveway was a mess of rutted mud from where the trucks went through; can't say I'd be happy if I was one of the apartment tenants. It'll be interesting to see what the developer does with that apartment site; it's not that big and is really close to the back side of Lotus Point. It's too bad they didn't own it from the start so they could integrate it into the Lotus Point design.

Mark, that photo makes me really sad the post office tower burnt down. I'm curious what that building is in the area that is now the post office parking lot. The post office building is pretty empty now. I went in yesterday to inquire about getting a Canada Post van moved (it was in my parking spot) and they said there were only two people in the whole building. I wonder how much of a future it has as a postal location. Hopefully, if Canada Post ever does divest, it doesn't get demolished and instead gets integrated into whatever happens on the site. Maybe with a reconstruction of the tower (one can dream...).

There's a blurb about the post office tower on the Downtown Dartmouth walking tour brochure, on page 19:

http://downtowndartmouth.ca/images/u...es_Revised.pdf

The Post Office building we see today
was built in 1915 with a striking Clock
Tower (see photo). The tower immediately
became a landmark - it housed the first
electrically illuminated clock in Dartmouth.
Unfortunately the tower was removed when
it became a safety concern.

It is still a fine old building, and hopefully will be preserved or incorporated into a new structure if it goes in that direction some day. I'm optimistic as the MT&T/Bell bldg across the street is being converted rather than demolished so one would think the post office would be even more desirable, though it is owned by government, so you can never be sure...

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

That tower and the original St Peters, also visible in this pic, were real architectural gems for Dartmouth. So sad they are gone

Though I was very young at the time, I still have a faint memory of the church burning down, or more like hearing the sirens and everybody around me being upset about it...

There's some info on the old church on page 16 of the walking brochure linked above and more at St. Peter's website:
http://www.saintpeterdartmouth.com/h...-pictures.html

In 1882, a large piece of property was obtained on the corner of Maple Street and Crichton Avenue, and construction began on the second Saint Peter's. It was a large brick structure with two towers of uneven height. It was located on approximately the same location as the present church but it faced westward.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by JET

The inkbottle house in Dartmouth was also unique
http://www.octagon.bobanna.com/CANADA.html

It was located at 1 Oak St. where an apartment building now stands, built around 1970. Not a good tradeoff achitecturally, but I suppose it adds density to the neighborhood...

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.67398...2!8i6656?dcr=0

Ziobrop blogged about it as well:
https://halifaxbloggers.ca/builthali...octagon-house/

[JET]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

It was located at 1 Oak St. where an apartment building now stands, built around 1970. Not a good tradeoff achitecturally, but I suppose it adds density to the neighborhood...

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.67398...2!8i6656?dcr=0

Ziobrop blogged about it as well:
https://halifaxbloggers.ca/builthali...octagon-house/

That's a very neat picture of the inkbottle house and Sullivan's pond, and Starr Manufacturing and a three masted ship in the harbor, the pond must have been a lot smaller then.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by JET

That's a very neat picture of the inkbottle house and Sullivan's pond, and Starr Manufacturing and a three masted ship in the harbor, the pond must have been a lot smaller then.

I think it's a weird angle, with trees blocking the view of part of the pond. Here's a photo from 1916 that shows the pond looking very much like it does today:



https://novascotia.ca/archives/Creig...ves.asp?ID=460

Sorry for the thread derail!

[OldDartmouthMark]

One last derail... here's an aerial view of the area from 1963 (pic from Halifax Municipal Archives). Inkbottle (Octagon) house to the right, Sullivan's pond in the centre, old St. Peter's church at the top of the pond, and location of Lotus Point Living to the upper left. Also Starr Manufacturing is visible on the left. It's notable that there were houses (and a store IIRC) on the perimeter of Sullivan's Pond.:



Source

http://gencat1.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/request/DoMenuRequest?SystemName=Halifax+Regional+Municipality+Archives&UserName=WA+Public&Password=&TemplateProcessID=6000_20185_20185&CMD_(SearchRequest)[11]=&PromptID=&ParamID=&RequesterType=SearchTemplate&browseData=1&Keyword=0&SearchLogic=%26Logic%3D%26S1%3DPOI1_1225%261POI1_1225%3D827