DND Shipbuilding Contract

[Keith P.]

You just knew this was coming... complaints about the loss of the view.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06...after-tragedy/

The story contains a picture of the "view" affected.... a tiny window through overgrown trees.

Unbelievable.

In my ignorance I thought the explosion site was closer to The Narrows. But whatever. I swear the media are trained to find these poor disaffected souls.

[ILoveHalifax]

Now that we have blocked that view and the world did not come to an end maybe we can block some other views, like most of the views from the citadel. Save a couple. People will just have to go down to the waterfront to see the harbor.

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

In my ignorance I thought the explosion site was closer to The Narrows. But whatever. I swear the media are trained to find these poor disaffected souls.

The Narrows is basically defined as the space between the 2 bridges. The explosion certainly didn't happen in the narrowest part, but is still is quite tight.

Ahem, Where is the Heritage Trust on this? though there is no viewplane, the new shipyard building disconnects the monument from the activity, and in this case alters the intent of the monument.

to be clear, I'm not against the shipyard, just pointing out the inconsistencies with the Heritage trust. this is a far more significant undefined view plane then the one they are currently litigating.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

Ahem, Where is the Heritage Trust on this? though there is no viewplane, the new shipyard building disconnects the monument from the activity, and in this case alters the intent of the monument.

Well said. I have a feeling that the HT assumes that anyone who is critical of them doesn't get their "academic" reasoning, but you obviously do. In fact, if they were able to express their arguments this concisely, the endless debates would probably be a bit more interesting, and shorter.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

Ahem, Where is the Heritage Trust on this? though there is no viewplane, the new shipyard building disconnects the monument from the activity, and in this case alters the intent of the monument.

I thought the trees that block the view did that.

Interesting that the other picture in the story shows... the Shipyard! It was there at the time of the explosion. Surprised the proponents did not insist on leaving the rubble in place and never allowing it to be productive again.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Now views are memorials. Give me a break. Halifax is getting way over the top.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

Whoa... this thing is massive!

How come they didn't have to go through a public approval process

A post from me a few pages back... you can't make this stuff up!

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

Now views are memorials. Give me a break. Halifax is getting way over the top.

No, but if you look at the memorial monument, it is spaced to direct the viewer to the location of the event. That was the intention of the design and the new shipyard hall breaks that. There is a meaning to how the memorial is laird out and now some of that is lost.

My point was that if your going to fight to preserve a view from a view plane compliant development, then they should also be fighting this since it's the same issue.

I would argue that more people come here because of the titanic and explosion then do because of the citadel

[Duff]

Why don't they just cut some trees down in another part of the park so you could see the same spot on the water they are looking at now? That park is huge and the building can't block every possible view of the water from it.

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

No, but if you look at the memorial monument, it is spaced to direct the viewer to the location of the event. That was the intention of the design and the new shipyard hall breaks that. There is a meaning to how the memorial is laird out and now some of that is lost.

My point was that if your going to fight to preserve a view from a view plane compliant development, then they should also be fighting this since it's the same issue.

I would argue that more people come here because of the titanic and explosion then do because of the citadel

You haven't been able to see the water from by the bell-tower for a dogs age. I grew up near it and would go there all the time, and I can't ever remember being able to look down and see the water. If you climbed to the top of the concrete triangle, you might be able to. I think when it was built you could. When it was an active fort you certainly could. Trees being what they are, however, have grown up and blocked it. Can the HT actually fight for the removal of trees to preserve a view? Would anyone on here take them seriously if they did?

[OldDartmouthMark]

Having had relatives who survived the Explosion and remembering first-hand accounts I've heard about the event, I do understand the significance of this.

However I don't think that this new building in the shipyards really compromises the value or effect of the memorial. Lots of things about the city have changed since 1917, and I would go as far to argue that the revitalized shipyards are a good sign of our resilience as a city to bounce back from hard times and prosper, just as we did following the explosion.

The survivors of the explosion fought hard to rebuild the city after that tragic event and I know that a thriving shipbuilding industry is something they would have been happy about, had they the ability to peer into the future of the city.

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Having had relatives who survived the Explosion and remembering first-hand accounts I've heard about the event, I do understand the significance of this.

However I don't think that this new building in the shipyards really compromises the value or effect of the memorial. Lots of things about the city have changed since 1917, and I would go as far to argue that the revitalized shipyards are a good sign of our resilience as a city to bounce back from hard times and prosper, just as we did following the explosion.

The survivors of the explosion fought hard to rebuild the city after that tragic event and I know that a thriving shipbuilding industry is something they would have been happy about, had they the ability to peer into the future of the city.

A $25B golden handshake certainly helped matters in this regard.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by curnhalio

A $25B golden handshake certainly helped matters in this regard.

Absolutely, though I don't think "golden handshake" is a fair term. How about "investment in the future of Halifax"?

One thing to keep in mind is that while many will look at this federal contract as a gift to the province it is, in my opinion, a stepping stone to the future. Once the shipyard has developed expertise in this area once again, it will hopefully be able to attract future private contracts based on their proven ability to take on large scale projects like this. I know that this hasn't been lost on the Irvings.

FWIW, other provinces regularly receive federal funding for local industries but are not looked down on for it. A sore point for me is how so much of the US and Canada's manufacturing base has already been lost to dirt-cheap overseas locations where wages are low and employee safety or environmental issues are not a concern. As such, I applaud the feds for keeping this in Canada rather than being lured by cheaper manufacturing elsewhere.

Back to topic, my point was that rather than look at this building as having a negative connotation towards our history we all should be looking at this project as an important point in our history, one that future historians will likely view as a positive turning point for Halifax's economy.

[curnhalio]

According to Paul Erickson's book about the history of North End Halifax, there actually are viewplanes regarding Fort Needham that were enacted in 1980. However, the city's GISS website does not show them. I guess the intention was to be able to see down the walkway to Richmond St, to the explosion site. Now there are overgrown trees and a ship building facility in the way.

Maybe the Irvings will allow a special tour on the 100th anny to get on the other side of the facility and have a proper ceremony on site. Hey, they could make the same pilgrimage that local residents made at the time to go down to the waterfront and watch, because it was a spectacular fire and nobody knew there were explosives on board the Mont Blanc until it was too late.

[Ziobrop]

Looks like the yard needs a Second New Drydock. The Nova Dock has been condemned.
http://blog.halifaxshippingnews.ca/2...-replaced.html and a bit of background http://blog.halifaxshippingnews.ca/2...pyard-and.html

[Dmajackson]

From today;


Photo by Dmajackson. Hosted via Urban_Halifax on flickr.com

[fenwick16]

Dmajackson has a recent picture on his Halifax Developments Blog http://urbanhalifax.tumblr.com/image/94645388655 from August 13th. It looks like a very impressive building.

Thanks for the construction pictures Dmajackson.

[Ziobrop]

go down to Marginal road, and look at this thing.
Its Huge, in a way that is less apparent then from barrington st.

[pblaauw]

It's pretty impressive from the bridge as well. But I bet it looks great when you're right next to it!

[fenwick16]

Great shot Ziobrop.

I wondered how many tons of steel would be used on the new shipbuilding shed, so I looked up the following facts:

(source http://www.waltersgroupinc.com/proje...fax-shipyards/ )
Facts & Figures

• Building is 1,200 ft long, 200 ft wide and upwards of 165 ft high in main ultra-hall
• 45, 200 foot long span trusses
• 9,000 tons of structural steel

That works out to a footprint of 240,000 square feet or 5.5 acres. The volume appears to be in the vicinity of 30,000,000 cubic feet (based on 240,000 square feet x my estimated average of 125 feet high)