Dammed if you do, Damned if you don't.

Dammed if you do, Damned if you don't
or
That Damned Dam
14 November 2008

When the Springbank dam broke, many of us were surprized to learn it's primary purpose was NOT flood control, but to provide an adequate waterway in terms of depth and width of water for recreational use.

At present, withe dam not working and the waterway wide open, two conflicting interests have presented themselves, which you can see above in the photographs.

There is very little more Canadian in nature than paddling a canoe. Much of our history was opened by the canoe, and it continues to be a very popular recreation to this very day. As strange as it sounds, even though Ontario is a land of rivers and lake, in southern Ontario, there are not that many places to go canoeing, and those places you can often charge a fee or admission or the like.

Having free and open access to a river for canoeing and other recreational boating is important and draws in tourist dollars.

The flip side is fishing. I have wandered down along river trails since childhood, and never in my life have I seen so many people fishing in the river as I have this year, ever since the dam broke and was left open. I have also never seen the river so clean looking either.

How does that old saying go - when a door closes a window opens? Something like that. Point is, fishing brings in a lot of money too, in tourism and recreational dollars spent. I wonder which brings in more dollars to the local economy in the long run - canoeing or fishing? I suspect the two are evenly matched in the long run.

So when the decision comes to either repair the dam or not, I can see the debate over competing but equally valid uses for the Thames River will leave City Council in between the proverbial "rock and a hard place.

A View of Summer and Thoughts of Old Garbage

A View of Summer and Thoughts of Old Garbage
14 November 2008

Cold, wet weekend ahead, so a warm look at a July sunset from Grand Bend. to remind you of warmer times.

In case you do not realize, you can click on the photos for a larger image on your screen.

The last of the Brunswick Hotel should be taken down and carted away today. I was down there around 4:00 p.m. yesterday, and as far as I can tell (and from lack of any mention in the media), thankfully nobody was found in the ruins of the 'Wick, so that's some good news.

The actual landfill being used is NOT the City dump, but the privately owned commercial landfill just outside the south end of the city. I forget the name of the site, but it is the same landfill that has the contract to handle Toronto's garbage in the coming years.

The basement of the 'Wick is still full of water from fighting the fire, so I do not know what will happen there. I am curious about the land below the basement and around the old hotel, as it is possibly one of the few chunks of land in the downtown core not touched or disturbed since pioneer times.

A specific example of what I am thinking of is the real possibility of a garbage dump out back some where. In 1855 there was no such thing as a city garbage dump or garbage collection. Many homes and businesses just dug a pit out back and buried everything.

Today these old garbage dumps, when found - and preserved and examined - are a treasure trove of relics into our forgotten past. As I have pointed out before, the horrible depression of 1857 left a big "memory hole" in our local history for roughly a 4 to 5 year period. While the chances of finding something specific from that time period are very slim, "very slim" still beats the heck out of no chance at all, so I hope we have the chance to examine the site before it is all excavated some day.

Demolition Day (or days...)

Demolition Day (or Days....)
13 November 2008

All pictures taken on 12 Nov. 2008. Since Armistice Day - a term I read in a WW One pilot's log book and has stuck with me ever since - Nov 11 - is a quasi-holiday, I suspect demolition was held over that day. But there it is, last stand of the 'Wick.



Most of the morning was spent in preparation. The actual demolition did not start until approx 2:35 PM, EST.





I know the warning signs are required by law & various codes of safety, but sometimes I wonder if we aren't just pushing redundancy to the extreme anymore.






The last "residents" of the 'Wick flee. The chimney nearest York Street did appear to hold a nest for two pidgeons, but I cannot say for certain, only that I saw two of them very often.







The machine operator, if I may be forgiven the term, was quite "gentle" and although working quickly, brought the 'Wick down in a very controlled manner







We knew the old hotel had been added onto over 100years ago, but here is the first, and perhaps only look at the inner roof we are likely to get.

One terrible loss is that due to asbestos, no recovery of materials such as the tin roof, wood beams, etc, or through examination of the building will ever take place. For example, the London free Press newspapers on microfiche and microfilm at the public library are incomplete, we have periods that are missing.

It is not uncommon when tearing down an old building like this to find old city directories, old newspapers, or some other pleasant surprize. In this specific situation, we have a large "memory hole" in the years of 1857 to roughly 1862, due to the depression of that era. Many missing or non-existant documents and books. For exmaple, we have no (known) copies of any city directory form 1858 or 59.

Being able to examine a building like this, sometimes, not always, but sometimes you find something that fills in a little gap. But not now.





Last look for me, around 3:30 pm. As I write this the demoltion was expected to last into as far as Friday. One terrible issue, completely unconfirmed but must be investigated was did the fire kill anyone? It was known for a fact that people were sneaking into the ruins of th e 'Wick before the fire - I myself saw the steel fence moved about many times - and the great fear is some of our homeless may have been sleeping in there to avoid the cold when the fire start.

I hope not, and I pray investigation today and/or tommorrow by the Fire Marshal proves this possiblity wrong, but this issue explains why the site was watched like a Hawk since the fire.

more later..

"I Want To Live!"

"I Want To Live"
aka - Day Two, the ' Wick on Death Row
09 November 2008

This Sunday morning at 8:00 am, Turner Classic movies had on the 1958 Susan Heywood movie "I Want To Live" about a woman on death row trying to fight to stay alive until the very end. The theme seemed fitting with the current situation at the old Brunswick Hotel.

So I changed the channel and watched Spongebob with my daughter instead. :)

These photographs were taken Saturday night and Sunday just before Noon. As you can see the 'Wick was lit up all night.


If I had brought binoculars or my telephoto lens, maybe I could read the writing on the wall. (Pun intended for those of you into biblical scholarship). :)


These lights were not there when I left about 7:00 p.m Saturday night, but obviously there to light up the rear of the 'Wick.


I suspect the closing of this entire intersection is not very healthy for the businesses in the area. I would not want ot be driving Greyhound Buses right about now.

In addition to keeping the engine running on the truck all night for the lights, last night and today are very cold, that damp cold that just goes right through you, and I do not envy those those have to stand vigil all night long.


I saw this this machine arrive early Saturday morning just before 8:30 am. When I was there again at 4:00 pm and later around 7:30 pm, it was still there, so somebody has to pay for this machine & driver/operator for at least 11 hours of sitting and doing nothing.

The issue of costs:
Almost anyone and everyone on the street who stops to take a look is asking "how much is this costing? and "who's going to pay?" Sadly the answers are easy. One - lots of money, two - you and me through tax dollars.

In addition to the Ontario Fire Marshall, the fire truck & crew, the various people who came to repair the one hydro pole, the three to five police cruisers and police officers on constant duty, the economic loss to the businesses in the area, and more I possibly cannot imagine, the bill will be terrible.

To give a bit of back ground on what is happening, in no particular order, here goes:

1) Because of suspicion of arson, the main floor is a crime scene, and it has to be preserved and protected. This is why the 'Wick was lit up all night, and there are so many police on site. Soem for traffic control, and some to protect the site.

2) Asbestos is there is small quantities, not huge quantities because this building went up long before asbestos was in common use. But like mercury, asbestos is one of our present day enviromental "bogeymen". For example, while mercury is deadly dangerous, and we are all supposed to turn in our mercury thermostats and thermometers, everybody is strangely quiet on the issue of mercury that is used in compact florescent lightbulbs.

However, and I know I am cynical about this, but people are not sued ovr CFLs, but they do get their butts sued over the smallest hint of asbestos. This is why, in my opinion, whenever the term "asbestos" comes up, everyone slows down to a dead crawl, almost like walking on broken eggsheels made of sharp glass in bare feet. One slip, and the lawsuits come and get you. Anyhow, back on topic, the ministry of the Enviroment has to be consulted in a case like this regardless, and of course, being a weekend, well, have any of you ever tried to get anybody on an emergency basis on a weekend? Which leads to.......

3) The Weekend. Can we say "Nobody in the office, call back Monday" and if you can get somebody - "overtime." The really sad part is all the different people who did show up on Saturday couldn't do anything much to begin with. So we also have a whole major downtown interesetion closed for - well at least three days nows, because even if demolition by some miracle started early Monday morning, it will still be at least a day.

4) The demolition. Interconnected problems. First off the building as it stands is very dangerous, and could collaspe, so how do you send in somebody to inspect the crime scene and / or remove the asbestos? Well, you don't. What has to be done is to carefully remove the top two floors - much easier said than done I suspect - and then when the danger from overhead is gone, the other work can be done. However, to my un trained eye, as I am no engineer, that north-west corner looks very unstable, so I suspect it will be a real tough job to carefull take the 'Wick down.

...and that of course is going to cost more money than just knocking it down quickly all at once.....


Between the cold, wet and miserable weather, and the ever growing complications, and the long waits and time this is not only taking, but is still going to take, I suspect everyone involved is not having a good time, with stoic attitudes being the best we can, or rather should expect out of people on site. Seeing as the civic budget for the year will likely be shot to pieces over this, or at the very least take a major kicking in the shins, my one recommendation to the Mayor would be to go into the Tim Horton's across the street, buy a pile of those plastic Quickpay Tim Cards and hand them out to everybody involved.

Yes, a beer might go down better, but hey, the bar in the 'Wick is already shut down, so we'll just have to settle for a hot coffee.
:)

Burnin' Down the 'Wick

Ahem - uh, if you want to burn something down, look at the security camera first.

Burnin' Down the 'Wick
Saturday, November 8, 2008

A quick post. This completely blew me away, I didn't even believe until I saw for myself . The first 5 photographs were taken by my son Tristan around 10 am Saturday morning, the last 4 by myself around 8 to 8:30 am on Saturday. All indications are arson, but nobody can say who. From what I know, the fire was first noticed around 3:00 am on Saturday morning, it took the fire department no more than 3 minutes to respond (they are close by), and yet the fire was so extensive that it took over an hour to extinguish.

Whomever torched the 'Wick was a complete, blithering idiot. Look at the hydro pole in the picture above, in front of the Tim Hortons. There's a SECURITY CAMERA run by the city covering that whole corner. These cameras are operated by the city of London, and yes, they keep the recordings for review. the two back walls along the rear of the Wick and the parking lot are solid, no doors or windows, so you would have to come down either sidewalk to get at the place.

I think we need to invent a new phrase:

DEFINITION:
Burnin' Down the 'Wick
- an action of complete redundant stupidity, one step past rubbing salt in a wound or flogging a dead horse, the end result of this action being the creation of the SNAFU from Hell, which ultimately grows into Titanic proportions and creates a series of smaller hardships and SANFUs for many innocent people.

Much of the day Friday, and into Friday night we had non-stop, solid rain, so the exposed portions would of been very wet.

It appears a hydro pole was damaged, and i suspect will have to be replaced.

Sunsets

Sunsets
07 November 2008

Perhaps not history, at least not yet. :) If you leave your eyes open, it's amazing what can be seen all around us.

The same image, but a larger scale.

Gulls at Port Stanley

We are almost trained from birth in this neck of the woods to think of the shoreline of lake Huron as the finest sunsets in all Ontario, perhaps Canada. :) But the north shore of lake Erie can provide a delight at sunset too, if you know where to stand. This one was easy - the main beach at Port Stanley, water's edge, not far form Mackie's fries.

I had to make a trip to St. Thomas, and once there, the whim to take a further 10 minutes down the lake caught me, and i am glad I did. Sometimes it's all about timing.

London By Night

A Dark Hall
Richmond St., across from the train station.

I had a fair bit of trouble taking this picture, as people kept coming around to see what I was doing. I suppose anybody who shoots photographs at night is under suspicion, but you can "see' the city in a whole different light at night. The above scene stuck me as what it would feel like to look in live person to an old Edgar Allen Poe story.

Kensington Bridge at Night

London By Night
07 Nov 2008

Even before the age of terrorism and fear we seem to live in, any activity at night draws undue attention. After more than 25 years in amateur astronomy, using my telescope at night still draws stares. Photography at night is also a hard thing to do, the few photos I took this past month drew attention from people whenever I stopped to take a long time exposure.

York Street Bridge

A view looking south from the King Street foot bridge.

Two More from the Forks

If you look closely, you can see where construction of the fountain at the forks is taking place.

The Brunswick Hotel by Night

The story is still not complete, and I shall wait until all is said and done before I post my experience, but in the meantime a view at night. Of all the buildings we have lost in the past few years, for some reason, this one haunts me the most.

When I was up north in the bush 30 years ago, I saw a live animal, near death, in a leg hold trap. Seeing "The Wick" this way brings those memories back like it was just a day ago.

Last of Summer

Last of Summer

17 September 2008

There have been trails and paths along the Thames River likely since human habitation first started in this area. The issue is that paths right along side the river change their shape, even on a daily basis. A short walk last night showed trees down in the water along the river, mostly soft Manitoba Maples, trees that seem to have a shallow root system.



Along the mix of trails are places where wild flowers grow on their own (some people plant & cultivate "wildflowers", so never assume that all wild flowers are "wild" - if that makes sense. :) ), and other areas you find lost remnants of old housing. The houses, even their foundations may be long gone by now, but you can find rhubarb, wild roses, wild grapes and perhaps even the odd, old fruit tree (mostly apple) in wild areas near the river.



Pictures this week are from my Nikon D40, set to B&W mode. That is to say, I did NOT covert colour pictures to B&W, I shot them that way. Obviously still need a yellow filter for the sky.
joe

Wandering Along the Thames River (Ontario)

Wandering Along the Thames River (Ontario)
27 August 2008

For me to understand the past, I need to see the world today as it is, good, bad and indifferent. Your mileage may vary. Part of what I find so interesting in this city is the Thames River, and the variety of plant, wildlife and even just the little hidden spots that exist right in the core area of our city.

The following photographs were taken in the evening hours of late August with my trusty Nikon D40. I haven't shot too much 4x5 this summer with all the rain. I've reduced all images to 150 dpi, however I do occasionally sell or lend a photograph to the odd magazine, and I even have one photo credit for a CD for the group "Born Hammers" - web site being : http://www.bornhammers.com/

So if there is one you want to use, and you need a high resolution version, contact me by e-mail at: joneil AT start DOT ca

The photo above was how I ended one of my trips, a nice sight to come home too. All photographs here are from the downtown core area, from the old Victoria Hospital to the Forks of the Thames.

A homeless encampment near the river. Not uncommon in summer months, and mostly from what i have seen, closer to the core area than farther.

Can you guess where this view is? It's quite majestic in person.




A very common sight this year, more so than in previous years. The large amount of rain & moisture has something to do with it I suspect.



Bunny!! Not uncommon at all, and I have seen many other forms of wildlife. Evening hours near sunset seems to be the best time to catch various animals with the camera.



One of many trails.




Days like this I wish I had some single malt in my water bottle. :)





More trails, primitive & paved.

The plant life is amazing, and I have just shown some of the more obvious examples. See, you don't need to travel many far miles to see some incredible scenery, just look around you.
until later