Walking down Chestnut Street this morning I got to experience the full effect of the monolithic snap-together-from-a-kit building that’s been dropped on Euston Street to house AIM/Trimark:
While it’s difficult to argue that what was there before was any great architectural marvel — a motley collection of two story buildings were torn down to make way — the new building isn’t exactly built in a “we’re glad to be a new member of your neighbourhood” style. It’s rather more “this could be suburban Indianapolis for all we care.”
How much more of downtown Charlottetown are we going to allow to be auctioned off to multi-national companies to set up cube farms before we realize that we’ve turned our neighbourhoods into architectural wastelands?
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Comments
The cost of making the back
The cost of making the back of this building seem somewhat integrated in to the street would not have been terribly expensive.
Is this a case that the residents just didn’t speak up? Or are all the houses on that street rentals, and the residents didn’t have a chance to speak?
Peter Rukavina for city
Peter Rukavina for city council?
Now there is a campaign I
Now there is a campaign I could get behind.
Ruk/Lantz ‘10 ?
The buildings behind it are
The buildings behind it are no architectural marvel’s either. It’s all ugly.
I love the Guardian’s
I love the Guardian’s classification of that 3 story shed as an ‘office tower’.
I almost dropped to my knees
I almost dropped to my knees the day the siding started to go up. Horrible.
Well, at least its only a few
Well, at least its only a few stories high. Imagine when they build the seven story building on Fitzroy. Typically, the designer / developer will submit beautiful plans with great expectations to the planning board and city council. Once permission to build has been given, out come the second set of plans for the building.
This has happened before - the Friendly Pharmacy is one, and the Condos where the old downtown Co-op used to be are another. The condos were to be beautiful, with roof top gardens, setbacks, and nice exterior. Didn’t turn out that way - now its just another cheap cube.
Charlottetown wants development, and they can’t / won’t control developers. Bylaws are sometimes ignored or broken, and nothing is ever done.
How many more fumbles before
How many more fumbles before they ‘get it right’?
Take a performance bond when the permit is issued to ensure construction complies with the approved plans.
Otherwise, construction progresses and the developer then says it’s too expnsivee to make any changes…remember North River Rd. and ‘back yard’ developers (affectionately calld the backyardigans)? Evil people, simply evil!
Too bad Chestnut Street didn’t have a sympathetic blogger on Council. Ironic when the shoe is on the ‘other’ foot….ahh irony. No one sttod up for Chestnut street, they were ramroded by ALL of COuncil, including the anti-backyard developer Councillor, the ‘anti-backyardigan.’
Poor City, poor residents.
Let’s all pull the plug on this poor place’s sorry existence. Al together now, tug!
Perhaps the city or the
Perhaps the city or the province could require builders buy insurance against going overbid with respect to the approved design.
If there is a deviation
If there is a deviation between plans as approved and the build, wouldn’t building inspectors noticed and ordered a halt to work?
When a developer wishes to
When a developer wishes to build something, they go to the Ch
The third paragraph above is
The third paragraph above is factualy incorrect.
Phone 566-5548 for the facts.
The plans for this building were highly developed by CADC and duly (blindly) approved by Council. No one stood up for Chestnut Street, not a single Councillor.
All Councillors knew EXACTLY what they were getting from this building. I wonder if JEVON still wants the RUK / Lantz ticket? Clearly it would mean more of this type of development if Lantz was part of the bid.
Think of your City carefully JEVON.
Poor CharlieTown, hammered again!
Pity.
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