General Updates and News - Page 482

Drybrain · #**9621** Posted **Mar 25, 2020, 7:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith P.

The current police state is foreign to Canadians and I suspect many will not take it well if it lasts very long.

Everything currently happening is legal and constitutional, so there is no "police state."

Keith P. · #**9622** Posted **Mar 26, 2020, 10:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Everything currently happening is legal and constitutional, so there is no "police state."

Having the police issue $1000 tickets for people using a trail may be legal at present but is hardly proof that we have not descended into a police state. What China has done in rounding up people is legal there as well but is surely a sign of such a state.

OldDartmouthMark · #**9623** Posted **Mar 26, 2020, 4:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Nor can the economy of the country continue going at the present rate of shutdown for months. Governments can only print so much money before they start to incur consequences. The problem is that once you hitch your policy wagon to the Public Health train it is very difficult to disengage since for them the balance of risk is a very tenuous concept. It will be interesting to see what happens when the rate of case growth slows and people start demanding a return to some sort of normalcy. Much of the public has been so scared by govts and the media that we could see civil unrest between the two sides. The current police state is foreign to Canadians and I suspect many will not take it well if it lasts very long.

Be careful what you wish for, Keith. Are you willing to 'take one for the team'?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cor...iors-1.5510079

Quote:

"As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival, in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren? And if that's the exchange, I'm all in," said Patrick, 70, this week in a much-quoted and much-shared clip from Fox News.

If you want to discuss the COVID-19 situation further, then I suggest you take it to this thread:
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...41968&page=199

Keith P. · #**9624** Posted **Mar 26, 2020, 5:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

If you want to discuss the COVID-19 situation further, then I suggest you take it to this thread:
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...41968&page=199

A curious comment, since it was you who initiated the discussion in this thread. But I do not care to comment on it further here, as it is therapeutic to get away from the constant noise on the subject.

OldDartmouthMark · #**9625** Posted **Mar 26, 2020, 7:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith P.

A curious comment, since it was you who initiated the discussion in this thread. But I do not care to comment on it further here, as it is therapeutic to get away from the constant noise on the subject.

Well I started it, so I'll finish it. But you only have to read back to know I started talking about it to explain where my headspace was in relation to the previous conversation.

You decided to take it in a whole different direction, which is fine, but let's get this thread back on track. Plus, if this sidestep gives you a good out then it's better for all of us.

Sorry for the tangent I created, folks.

MeEtc · #**9626** Posted **Mar 29, 2020, 4:34 PM**

Haven't seen this mentioned yet. There are tender documents and detailed (watermarked) plans available for a renovation and addition of Dalhousie Arts Centre. https://dal.bidsandtenders.ca/Module/Tenders/en

Dmajackson · #**9627** Posted **Mar 31, 2020, 1:16 AM**

And literally across the street ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeEtc

Haven't seen this mentioned yet. There are tender documents and detailed (watermarked) plans available for a renovation and addition of Dalhousie Arts Centre. https://dal.bidsandtenders.ca/Module/Tenders/en

Dalhousie Arts Addtion is under construction. This is on my main bike route so updates can be followed at #dalhousiearts

Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

And just a hundred feet up the street is CAPITOL SUITES

someone123 · #**9628** Posted **Mar 31, 2020, 1:24 AM**

The Housing Trust of NS is asking for a 1 year extension on the deadline for beginning construction of the first of 2 affordable housing projects on Gottingen Street. Construction would have to begin by June 2, 2021:

https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/sa...opment-430546/

someone123 · #**9629** Posted **Mar 31, 2020, 3:50 AM**

Rendering of the reno of the corner building by the Roy on Barrington:

Source

OldDartmouthMark · #**9630** Posted **Mar 31, 2020, 2:50 PM**

I hate to say it, but IMHO the "renovation" addition actually looks quite bad, like some kind of 1980s architectural nightmare.

Not sure why they wouldn't just dress up what is already there, perhaps reconfigure or add some stone cladding (if that's not what is there already - it's unclear from streetview) and continue the vertical theme between the windows so that the upper floors continue the same design theme as the lower ones.

I think the mish-mash appearance of this proposal will be a mistake if the concept makes it to built form.

someone123 · #**9631** Posted **Mar 31, 2020, 4:56 PM**

I'm not sure what works is being done there. Is it just a restoration project with some cosmetic exterior work on the upper floors, or is the upper addition being stripped down or demolished and rebuilt?

This building has gone through a lot of changes over the years. At one point it was a 3-storey brick Victorian. I am not sure what parts of that structure remain.

Colin May · #**9632** Posted **Mar 31, 2020, 5:20 PM**

Hope you all keep well. Just follow the rules for as long as necessary and we will all get through this. When I was younger I was quarantined, along with a group of men, in Africa and in the Middle East. It is not a big deal, unless you have young kids. The good news is that citizens and governments may reach agreement as to what is important and what would be nice to have. Perhaps we may even have politicians who decide that keeping strategic medical supplies for emergencies rank higher in priority than more visible spending. In California the governor who succeeded Schwarzenegger got rid of the emergency supplies in order to save $5 million a year in an annual budget of $100 billion. Schwarzenegger grew up in postwar Europe and knew all about desperate poverty and I like to think his experience informed his decisions.
https://www.latimes.com/california/s...KWbbBj23bhUYwM

Best wishes to everyone. https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/s...450821/photo/1

Keith P. · #**9633** Posted **Apr 1, 2020, 11:29 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone123

I'm not sure what works is being done there. Is it just a restoration project with some cosmetic exterior work on the upper floors, or is the upper addition being stripped down or demolished and rebuilt?

This building has gone through a lot of changes over the years. At one point it was a 3-storey brick Victorian. I am not sure what parts of that structure remain.

From the rendering above it appears they are building a "cage" facade to mask the existing upper floors and mimic somewhat the lower part, but it seems what is there now will remain somewhat visible behind it. It seems to me that it is a dumb idea.

ETA: Those upper floors were a later addition according to this photo from the Halifax Municipal Archives.

Original larger image: http://gencat1.eloquent-systems.com/...qiuch118k4.jpg

BLeagues · #**9634** Posted **Apr 1, 2020, 1:07 PM**

What's going on with the project at the corner of Dutch Village and Rosedale in Fairview?

It seems like construction has stopped. The hoist block on the tower crane has been stowed for at least a month now.

OldDartmouthMark · #**9635** Posted **Apr 1, 2020, 1:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone123

I'm not sure what works is being done there. Is it just a restoration project with some cosmetic exterior work on the upper floors, or is the upper addition being stripped down or demolished and rebuilt?

This building has gone through a lot of changes over the years. At one point it was a 3-storey brick Victorian. I am not sure what parts of that structure remain.

I agree with Keith in that it just looks like they are building a cage of sorts to try to hide the upper floors added to the building (after 1959, the date of the photo Keith posted). I just can't see that being attractive in built form (it isn't in the rendering, which is usually the best that a project will ever look).

As for the building that was there before, here's a pic from the NS Archives from 1933. It appears to have little in common with the current building (window spacing, layout, etc.) so I suspect the current structure was a completely new build, but don't have information to back it up.

Dmajackson · #**9636** Posted **Apr 8, 2020, 1:59 AM**

Full building renovation is underway at 3180 Isleville in the Hydrostone District. The residential building on the left is complete and the one on the right is under construction.

'Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

Hali87 · #**9637** Posted **Apr 8, 2020, 4:46 AM**

I've noticed over the last few years that Halifax and Calgary seem to be sort of converging in terms of their newest architecture. This is another project that reminds me pretty much exactly of the scale and aesthetic of inner-city Calgary commercial strips (though not necessarily the houses that book-end it)

OldDartmouthMark · #**9638** Posted **Apr 8, 2020, 11:36 AM**

Kind of reminds me of a modernist style like you would have seen built in the 1950s or 60s. In my words, kinda blocky and funky. Not overtly beautiful, but interesting in its geometry.

Colin May · #**9639** Posted **Apr 8, 2020, 7:51 PM**

https://twitter.com/jen_keesmaat/sta...67624205262848
Thank God Jennifer Keesmat was never offered a position in the HRM planning department
Quite obvious to me that she has never spent any time in Asia.
I think it is quite obvious that "DENSITY KILLS"

Keith P. · #**9640** Posted **Apr 9, 2020, 10:10 AM**

Keesmat is considered a goddess in the planning community. Like many urban planners she has a huge ego and a superiority complex where she feels compelled to tell people how to live their lives. It is a remarkable characteristic of planners especially given that the existing urban form many now rail against was a product of previous generations of urban planners. It makes one wonder what future generations will think of what we are now constructing thanks to the current generation of planners.