By Pepper Parr
October 12th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON.
The ground breaking took place, the backhoes have moved in and the big dig begins.
The contractor overseeing the actual construction don’t always know what’s in the ground they are digging into.
Looking over the site to the south.
They are professionals and the work through and or around the problems. The top dog on the construction site – James – has done a lot of work in Burlington. He did the Performing Arts Centre, He did the Pearl on Pine retirement home. Home for him is in Newmarket – which is one hell of a commute.
We will work at keeping in touch with James as the building goes through the various stages of construction.
Back hoes ripping through the surface.
Thirty months to do the job and make room for the moving trucks.
Things got off to a good start with the formal part of the ground breaking.
The trick with these events is to get a dignitary to head up the event; a politician will do.
As the first of the latest round of tall buildings in Burlington one would have looked for the Mayor to take part.
Not with this situation – The Gallery – which is what the building is going to be called, was not a favourite of Mayor Marianne Meed Ward.
Had the previous city council been in office the Mayor would have been wearing his best and the city manager at the time would have burst with pride.
The best that could be done with the current political climate was the provincial member of the Legislature who can usually get a giggle out of people.
When the announcement was made about the first contractor for the Bridgewater development was made, Meed Ward, the ward Councillor at the time was there front and centre.
From the left: Suzanne Hammel, Nick Carnicelli, Jane McKenna, MPP, Mark Bales, VP with The Gallery. The name of the man on the right is not known to us. The Smile Carnacelli is wearing is a rare sight.
For Nick Carnicelli it was a day to celebrate and be happy. In all our years of working with Nick we have never seen a smile as big as the one he wore the day ground was broken.
It has been a grind.
The Gallery opposite city hall.
Carriage Gate, the Carnicelli family holding company, is known for a quality product. The Gallery is their first tall tall building in the downtown core (not counting Bridgewater which is mired in problem after problem) and getting to the point where Carnicelli was able to put a shovel in the ground was not a short happy trip.
This is the building that was the beginning of the change in what Burlington is going to be, like it or not.
and what penalty is there to the developer if they go beyond 30mos of construction??
What astonishes me is the up and coming project that will remove a perfectly good neighborhood of affordable houses, where families have lived for a generation or more. Tear it down, so that much much higher density housing can take its place. Lots of money to be make here. The area at plains road and King rd. Not a peep.