Is this is a help wanted sign for the i-generation? You’ve gotta have a cell phone to “read” it. If you can’t read it, you’re not young and trendy enough to work here. Continue reading Only the Young and Trendy need apply
The lobby area of the Beaver Barracks building on Metcalfe features a large common room and kitchen to cater to events, parties, and cooking lessons: The sloped wood ceiling is made of reclaimed wood. Several large trees were cut down on the site last year. That wood was augmented by some wood reclaimed from the Ottawa River. They were milled into rough-cut boards to make ceiling panels like above. The main lobby also has these ceiling panels. They look great from a distance, but personally I felt they were a bit too rough and crude, too “packing-crate” for my liking. Here is the interior … Continue reading Interior of the Beaver
Last week I posted about my adventures with Solo Mobile that somehow “contracted” with an Alzheimer’s patient for a cell phone. Solo was not interested in cancelling the telemarketed, unsigned contract. A reader kindly sent me the name of a VP of Marketing at Bell, the parent company. One polite email later, the contract vaporized with profuse apologies. A satisfactory ending to the (mis)adventure. Continue reading Bell nixes Solo action
The Starwood-Mastercraft sales trailer is being fitted out at the corner of Sidney-Preston. Not surprisingly, some people think this is the sales office for the Soho Italia project, their 35 storey condo that soars to new heights (they hope). But alas, it is the sales office for their Soho Champagne project, the twin towers proposed for 125 Hickory Street at Champagne Avenue, over by the dog shelter on the other (better? wrong?) side of the tracks. I presume the sales model in the picture is actually unwrapping one of the boutique hotel-room sized condos. At the other end of the trailer … Continue reading Soho ho
above: lot preparation last fall … Recall this infill on Primrose and Lorne, by the staircase, has been featured on earlier posts. By the end of December, the garage floor has been poured on the third floor — flush with Upper Lorne — although the bridge to get to it was not yet in place. The picture above shows the windows installed. Notice that on the fourth floor there is one large room to the right and a smaller room instruding onto the deck. The smaller box, fenestrated on several sides, is the stairwell that runs through all the levels, with generous windows … Continue reading Staircase House
This is about being handed a problem. Well, volunteering to solve someone else’s problem. Being a retired male about home, neighbours ocasionally find me handy. This post is about telemarketing ( I hope the title didn’t mislead you …). Telemarketers have a function in society. I don’t think much of that function, but it’s legal. But it sure can drift off into the dubious pretty quick. Someone I know has Alzheimer’s. She got telemarketed by SOLO Mobile phones folks out in Edmonton. Presto, a box arrives in the mail with cell phone in it. Who knows if she said she wanted a phone, … Continue reading Solo fun on a Saturday morning
Note: the land on the south side of Carling on each side of the O-train corridor is shown as green space. It is NOT parkland. The City’s Official Plan calls for this area along Carling to be developed as a high-density mixed-use centre, ie more condos and offices. The facade of the podium facing Preston appears to have a fair bit of glass. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a Photoshop rendering of this facade. How the building relates to the street is very important for a livable street. In the background of the above picture you can spot the 125 Hickory … Continue reading Soho Italia – the developer’s proposal
A sales office trailer showed up this week on Preston at Sydney Street, just a half block north of Carling Avenue. The photo above is taken from beside the CIBC, at the foot of the Little Italy Arch. The trailer belongs to Mastercraft Starwood, the condo builder. Readers may recall that they are building a glass box condo on Parkdale opposite Tunney’s Pasture, and on Lisgar by the former plastics store (theirs are the big adverts that show a lady sitting on a …). They also bought the Aquerello site on Champagne Avenue south, beside the dog shelter. It had been rumoured they bought the … Continue reading Purely speculation, of course
This infill on Eccles is now occupied. The occupants had it designed and built for themselves. You can read about it on their blog www.37Eccles.com. The scale is compatible with other buildings on the street. Personally, I like many of the homes built in this style, with exterior plywood panels and metal siding. Actually, I prefer corrugated metal siding rather than the smooth stuff, but that’s just me. Does anyone know the name of this architectural style? I call it shoebox, because that is what it reminds me of, a stack of shoeboxes. But that doesn’t sound very complimentary, so … Continue reading Modern “shoebox” infill
Earlier this fall, the edge of the Nanny Goat Hill between Upper Lorne Place and (upper) and (lower) Primrose was chewed out and footings installed. Some previous posts showed details of the lot, and then the first floor foam block foundation system: http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/cliff-becomes-hole/, and athttp://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/lego-build-a-house/ and at http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/bumpy-stairs/ and at http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/nanny-goat-hill-infill/ and at http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/stairway-to-development/ The bottom two floors, (the lower Primrose levels) are foam+concrete walls. The third floor is level with Upper Lorne, and will have the garage level opening off that street. The fourth floor (when viewed from Primrose) aka the second floor (when viewed from Upper Lorne) will be half interior space and … Continue reading Infills in progress
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health: The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow. Crunchy numbers About 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal every year. This blog was viewed about 30,000 times in 2010. If it were the Taj Mahal, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it. In 2010, there were 359 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 716 posts. The busiest day of the year was August 4th with 564 views. The most popular post that day … Continue reading 2010 in review
I spent a little bit of time in Montreal over the holidays. I was struck by several huge differences between Montreal’s treatment of downtown streets vs Ottawa’s. In the following photos, notice that the traffic signal lights are pushed off to the side of the road. Their cases and mounting brackets are dark coloured, and very unobtrusive. They are mounted low, not high in the sky. The pedestrian signals, which are relatively rare in downtown Montreal compared to Ottawa, were mounted snugly close to the traffic signals. The discreet treatment of traffic signals means that the downtown streets are not dominated or given … Continue reading Who sets the street agenda?
The City released its first report on the test bores along the route of the proposed LRT through the downtown of Ottawa (DOTT). There was a lot of confusing fuss over the Campus Station (is there too much rock or not enough? will the tunnel there be bored or cut-and-cover? why would a open-to-the-surface slope into the tunnel cost about the same as a tunnel itself?) and not enough answers. There was also some fuss about the existence of fault lines crossing the DOTT route. Unfortunately, no one seemed to have the time to call an expert or even a geology professor at … Continue reading Finding Fault with DOTT
Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, DC: 5,000 wreaths donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. Continue reading Silent Night
If you squint your eyes just right, this porch furniture evokes the rear end of a late 50’s early 60’s big American car. You know, the era where cars were imagined as rocket ships or jet airplanes. What would our neighborhoods be without front porches? Where would we keep our bikes, our recycling bins, where would old furniture get a second chance? Continue reading Front Porch Cruisin’
Some infill houses are going in on the west end of Elm Street, near the Just Rite storage building, which formerly was the Vimy House war museum workshops, and before that the Champagne Streetcar Barn. Champagne was a mayor of Ottawa. The old barn is the building to the left, in the picture; it has a new stucco façade facing the street but the original brick walls on the residential sides. The backhoe is digging trenches in the street to connect to sewer and water mains. Looking at the piles of dirt dug up, notice all the timbers. These are … Continue reading Archeological Dig on Elm Street
Two items: the farmer’s market, and the snow stomp And, if you are interested in something cheaper and involved free food and friendship, the Plant Pool Recreation Assoc (PPRA) is having a snow stomp on Saturday between one and three pm., in Plouffe Park (corner of Somerset and Preston,where Little Italy meets Chinatown. It’s the Annual Rink Stomping Kickoff Event. The first stage in make ice for the hockey rink or free skating space, is packing down a snow base. Therefore, we need anyone interested in stretching their legs on their cross country skis or snowshoes to do a few laps of … Continue reading Local news
For several years Chinatown has been struggling. The arrival of big-box asian-food supermarkets in the suburbs, and the shift of Asian families to suburban living, has resulted in a number of vacancies along Somerset Street. The construction of the Chinatown Royal Arch is the first step in rejuvenating the area. The second step is the construction, in 2011, of new streetscaping from Preston up the hill to Booth. This will include new, wider brick sidewalks, lots more trees and plantings, new ped-scale lighting, benches and other street furniture. This has made a major improvement to Preston; similar but unique streetscaping should boost Chinatown’s … Continue reading Planning Exercise (v): Chinatown lives
Christ Church Cathedral and their planners/architects held a public meeting last Thursday to explain their proposed real estate development on the Sparks/Bronson/Queen block. the project was well covered in the Citizen Dec 2nd: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/Christ+Church+Cathedral+gets+promised+land/3915157/story.html and by a Nov 23rd blog post here: http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/heritage-in-context/. I attended the public meeting mostly to see how the idea went over with the crowd. First up was the Dean of the Cathedral, who explained what the Church does, how much it needs money, and how real estate development would support the ongoing good works of the church. This was well presented and set a positive framework … Continue reading Planning Exercise (iii)
There is a large parcel of land owned by the Feds. It runs from Somerset Street to Gladstone, on the east side of the OTrain corridor. At the Somerset end, it has the address 1010 Somerset Street; at the Gladstone end it is 943 Gladstone; in the middle it has an Oak Street address. Most of the site is covered with a giant brick and concrete warehouse dating from the Second World War era. Before that, it was open field, my father tells me he attended the Ringling Circus there when he was a boy in the ’30’s. The circus arrived … Continue reading Planning Exercise (ii)
The photo above is taken a few weeks ago, looking south along Cambridge. Primrose is behind us, Somerset and the new Chinatown Royal Arch is directly ahead. The street looks closed to automobiles, which is the idea. It was reconstructed years ago using the Dutch design principles called a woonerf. Getting closer to the woonerf, it is less constricted than it first appeared. There is, indeed, plenty of room for a car … or truck, or school bus, or fire truck … to get through. The high shrubs and planters deliberately block the view and sight lines, forcing motorists to slow down. It … Continue reading Planning exercise (i)
You’ve read posts here before about this house on Lisgar. A very nice garden was installed here during the summer.http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/gardening-in-centretown/ It emphasizes shapes and form using plants, and there was the corrugated artwork on the right side. An architect lives here (how could we guess?) and at night large paintings similar to the exterior corrugated one can be seen inside. This week, I noticed the new sculpture in the centre of the garden. Maybe I watched Toy Story once too often, but I found myself saying hello to Mr Potato Head as I walked by. I hope that tree wasn’t harmed … Continue reading Mr Potato Head as Art
Parts of the Dalhousie neighborhood have few parks. One nice one is Primrose Park, between Rochester and Preston. It is hilly (the hills are made of rubble and probably- contaminated brownfield dirt from the former industrial sites). One set of those hills makes for good winter sliding. Bizarrely, the park planners from the City in the late 70’s insisted that the park is not open in the winter, because the paths are not plowed, and therefore refused residents’ appeals not to put trees and benches at the foot of the otherwise ideal sliding slopes. In went multiple benches, garbage cans, … Continue reading Preparing for winter (ii)
Pre-order your Christmas Turkey! Bearbrook Farms is taking orders for turkeys. Turkeys, fresh $6.45 kg (available after Dec 20th) Turkeys, frozen $6.30 kg – available Dec 11th for market delivery Hams, Bone In $9.89 kg – available Dec 11th for market delivery To pre-order your turkey or ham, contact Bearbrook Farms at info@bearbrookfarm.com Santa is coming and so is the brand new Little Italy Christmas Market! Please join us at the corner of Preston and Louisa for the very first of three Christmas Markets. Inside our heated tent you will find all your Christmas essentials plus some other gift … Continue reading Xmas Farmers’ Market
Somerset Street will be reconstructed from Preston up to Booth next year (city budget permitting). After the underground utilities are replaced, the street gets repaved and new sidewalks, ped lights, trees, benches, garbage cans, the whole shebang gets set up for the next decades. Many of those streetscaping decisions are being made right now, and it is fun being on the committee debating the colour palette of the paving blocks, the crosswalk designs, selecting the benches, etc. So … what Chinatown should look like is much on my mind. It is rather ironic therefore that the Southern Cross restaurant, which serves tex-mex food from its … Continue reading Tex-Mex with a touch of China
