Archive | 10:05 PM

Thinking Rossdale, thinking Kansas City?

7 Jul

Many of you probably don’t subscribe to the Concrete Repair Bulletin.  Nor do we– yet.  But our attention has been directed to the CRB’s November-December 2012 edition and an example of power station re-use in Kansas City.  This, after 40 years sitting abandoned and unused…

The new Kansas City Ballet facility defines an adaptive reuse of an abandoned, severely distressed 100-year-old former power plant into an historic restoration and preservation achievement dedicated to the performance art of ballet by the following:

• A unique architectural period building was saved and restored to its original façade and principal interior appearances and spaces;

• Extensive structural condition surveys in advance of the selective demolition and construction phases identified critical structural deficiencies and material properties that allowed the designteam to work with the contractors early on in stabilizing and restoring the exterior and interior building structure;

• Adaptation of the Kansas City Ballet to the Power House saved millions of dollars in new construction costs and enabled a sustainable reuse of a historic building; and

• The historical restoration included significant, almost-daily challenges to repairing the corrosion and moisture damage to all of the concrete, masonry, and steel while ensuring compliance with the design restoration and program

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Report to City Council, Rossdale Power Plant: Postponed to August 19

7 Jul

Tomorrow (okay, on August 19th), City Council’s Executive Committee will be discussing a report from City of Edmonton staff (not publicly available on the City’s website) on the Rossdale Power Plant.

Rossdale Regeneration also anticipates making a presentation on its work and recommendations for the future of the Rossdale plant.  You can find our full report here.  If you’re planning on coming to City Hall to watch the proceedings, that’s great.  We’re not sure of what time this will proceed– that will be determined at the beginning of the committee meeting beginning at 9:30 am.  But we think it will be around 10:45 or 11 am.  We’ll provide an update on this site and our Facebook page when we know.  And of course, we’ll let you know how it goes.  You can also watch and listen to the proceedings via livestream connecting through the Office of the City Clerk’s webpage.

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Seeing Rossdale again for the first time

7 Jul

You’ll have noticed the marvelous images that form the masthead and shape the pages of this FB site (as well as that of Rossdale ReGeneration’s website).  Many of us drive, bicycle and walk by the Rossdale plants on a regular basis and the mass and features of the building catch the eye.

But K. Jack Clark’s images have helped us see the structure again and really appreciate and understand its place and position along the banks of the North Saskatchewan and in the foreground of our urban landscape.

Not only is that a gift to all Edmontonians and those who appreciate this building’s design and significance, but the images were donated to Rossdale ReGeneration to support this work.  It’s a thrill to see this iconic Edmonton structure through your composition and art.

You’ll find the whole set of Mr. Clark’s Rossdale images posted here on Rossdale ReGeneration’s Facebook page.  And you can find more about his work on his website at www.kjcphotography.ca

Edmonton’s Lost Heritage: a troubling decade

7 Jul

This post on Spacing Edmonton by Paul Giang poses the core question for Edmontonians about their connection (or lack thereof) with their built heritage and one could add that it goes beyond the built to almost all approaches to city memory.

Shirley Lowe, Edmonton Historian Laureate has eloquently spoken of “all the buildings we wish we could have back” (and here’s an example of a streetscape we’ve just lost) and  Lawrence Herzog has recently written at set of articles on Edmonton’s “lost” buildings and places.   We’d like to believe that the Rossdale plant’s provincial historic designation will lead to a good short and long term result for the plant and the larger site.  But it won’t matter if we don’t collectively understand that this and other buildings are significant in their own right as the the key anchors of civic memory and experience.

So, with tomorrow’s reports to Edmonton City Council Executive Committee, we’ll see how this moves ahead and look for a good result.

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