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Il Vicino -- The Neighbourhood
Entry 19 of 20 | show all | print this entry |
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Date of Event: June 2006 (last month of our stay in Victoria)
Date of Blog: April 5, 2007 (from Prince George)
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Il Vicino (The Neighbourhood)
or
My New-Found Respect for Construction Workers
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Disclaimer:
While this blog might sound like a promotion for a real estate development, my only interest was as an observer in the fascinating construction process..
Note: there are more photos in the attached album
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A year ago we had the pleasure of spending four months in one of Victoria's most desirable neighbourhoods - historical James Bay.
James Bay is located within a short walking distance of: the Inner Harbour, the Empress Hotel, downtown, the Provincial Legislature, Ogden Point (cruise ship harbour) as well as the Strait of Juan de Fuca
We quickly came to the conclusion that this was "the neighbourhood", as we loved to explore intimate, tree-lined streets dotted with historical homes characterized by striking architecture and colourful gardens. The fact that it was April when we arrived and that the streets were lined with blooming plum trees (see Blog No. 1) left us in total amazement of how beautiful the place was.
On my daily 10 minute walk from Villa Superior,
our residence, to James Bay Square,
the local shopping centre, it was always a pleasure to walk by the James Bay Tea House and Restaurant on the corner of Superior and Menzies Streets.
As I peeked in the windows and saw the patrons having lunch or breakfast, I could picture Barbara and myself going there for afternoon tea (at half the price of the Empress Hotel) because it had this rustic air about it. I have to say that picturing something and actually doing it is not quite the same thing since we never actually managed to eat at this landmark restaurants in James Bay.
A little further along my route, just a block south on Menzies, at the corner of Michigan, is one of the wonders of Victoria - two giant Sequoia trees.
They are awe-inspiring and they indeed are Sequoia trees, because there are very few of those in the area.
Across the way is a Mac's Milk where I would buy my daily newspapers which of course are essential to blogging.
Beyond that, next to the Bank of Montreal on Menzies, there was another landmark of note which started to draw my attention. That was the start of construction of a new condominium project.
Cielo Properties (http://www.cieloproperties.ca ) must have capitalized on the fact that James Bay indeed is "the neighbourhood" to live in, because the new condominium is called "Vicino" which in Italian means "neighbourhood". (http://www.vicinovictoria.com/)
Because construction took place right beside the sidewalk, albeit behind a high wire mesh fence, this allowed for a daily observation of the building process.
It was thus that I gained a newfound respect and admiration for the construction workers.
It was fascinating, firstly watching the heavy equipment operator doing his skillful work in digging out the foundation and then in the end, almost digging out the ground underneath the excavator in order to remove the maximum amount of dirt. I thought he was putting himself in peril in the last valiant attempt to get the dirt out, so to speak.
The next stage that I found incredibly intriguing was the job of the steel workers. Firstly, I had no idea of the amount of steel reinforcement that went into a condo project and we are only speaking about a four story structure.
The steel work was a virtual maze or criss-cross of reinforced steel rods or rebar which must have amounted to miles of steel on just one floor.
Talk about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It hurt just to watch the back-breaking work of twisting a small piece of wire around each of the points where reinforced steel rods crossed. Each one required reaching for the wire, bending it around the crossing point and then giving it a twist with a pair of pliers to secure the steel rods. It was mind boggling in its repetition! How would you like to do that for eight hours - but I bet the pay is good.
I was very much impressed with the rapidity with which the steel workers did their tasks. It seems only a matter of days until the steel work was completed on the ground floor and the next wave of cement work started.
Not to forget the work of the electricians in laying electric conduits in the maze of steel. This had to be right because once the concrete is poured it is "cast in concrete" so to speak and any afterthoughts would be futile.
Perhaps the most amazing aspect however would be the architectural and engineering stages where everything to the finest detail is orchestrated to produce a perfect product. One can only admire the minds which bring about such a product in such an efficient manner. It is like a giant puzzle where every minute piece has to fit perfectly.
An endless stream of cement mixers dumped their load via overhead flexible pipe to the exact location of the next stage. The cement workers then got down to work in creating a perfectly level and smooth surface which would be the first floor.
Meanwhile the steel workers have already laid the ground work for the next floor with multitudes of reinforced steel rods protruding skyward waiting to be joined to the next floor.
It all comes together like on an efficient assembly line.
This is real physical work, done by real hardworking people, producing a real tangible beautiful result - a most impressive process-- and therefore creating my new-found admiration for construction workers and what they bring about.
PHOTO_ID_L=imgp7807.jpg]
My only regret about this blog is the fact that our stay in Victoria was finished at the end of July 2006. So, unfortunately, I was not able to see this project being completed which would have been fascinating to watch and record.
Barbara recently (May 2007) visited Victoria and took some photos.
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