by Councillor John Edwards
The Design Advisory Committee for the Enerdu hydro-electric plant has met twice to discuss and review conceptual plans for the plant. The Committee was recommended by the provincial Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport which is responsible for heritage in the Province. The Town Council has supported the committee as a way to work with the Enerdu developer to achieve common goals. The committee is comprised of Fred Dennis of the MM Heritage Committee, Stephen Braithwaite as a member of the public, Stephen Stirling, Town Planner, Councillors Gillis and Edwards and Julie Harris, Heritage Consultant’ as facilitator. The architects involved in the meetings are Dennis Vaas & Melissa Stickle of Ventin Group Architects. Ron Campbell, project Manager attends the meetings as well.
At the first meeting (Dec 17/18, 2014) there was discussion of the engineering specifics related to the project and the creative ideas the group had to make the generating station an attractive addition to the downtown/riverine location. At the second meeting (Jan, 22, 2015) the architects presented preliminary sketches based upon the input received. The sketches were not final. A presentation of more detailed conceptual sketches will be made at the next committee meeting scheduled for the month of April. The ideas presented by the architects were very well received by the committee. Ideas being discussed were:
1. generous use of glass on the upper storey to maximize transparency
2. extension of a water fall ‘curtain’ along a portion of the façade,
3. a living green wall of plants on a portion of the façade
4. public or semi-public access to exterior decks and/or a portion of the interior
There was unanimous support from the committee members that the items suggested by the committee members at the December meeting were respectfully and thoughtfully being discussed. Clearly, the architects grasped the importance of the site and were creative in proposing opportunities for expression. There was also the feeling that what was being presented would make a positive contribution to the downtown and river environment.
As noted above, it is anticipated the next meeting where a finalized set of conceptual plans will be presented will be in the month of April. Detailed construction drawings will only be developed after the concept is finalized.
