The BIG Building

There was news about tax deals for the Irving Shipyard. What good timing! This week I walked down to Barrington Street specifically to look at the new construction in the yard so I can show you what the talk is about.

The big building where the ships that start here will be started is HUGE. You need to walk by and stand and gaze to really understand the size and grandeur of this structure.  I’m sure the real photographers are recording the theatre of the construction process, it is a significant waterfront moment. I only captured fragments.

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I was most amused by a pair of extraordinary cranes at the north end of the building. They  immediately reminded me of a woozy version of the Bar Stillwell logo. I imagined a hipster engineer spending the afternoon sampling brews and designing trusses.

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And if you must know, the Stillwell logo is based on a tall structure used to simulate parachute jumps. (This fact has nothing to do with the Shipyards or the municipal tax structure).

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I’ve always been a fan of industrial buildings and the industrial aesthetic which is why I took a couple of photos of an earlier generation of Shipyard structures in about 1980.  Here is a water tower and a concrete smoke stack. Can you see that “SHIPYARDS” is cast into the stack?

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This great little foot bridge is also gone, as are the railway tracks .

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Soon I’ll show you what else I discovered walking along Barrington Street.

 

 

About the author

Stephen Archibald

It’s Stephen Archibald doing the noticing. I’m a huge fan of Nova Scotia’s material culture and cultural landscapes. Twitter (@Cove17 ) made me realize I could share what attracted my attention (perfect for my very short attention) and I’m gratified when folks enjoy my content. Pleased to meet you on the internet.

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