The premise of this post being that the City's Railtown/Market input-extension specifically is about the top-to-bottom unworkable market-design: this not previously noticed(!?!) by its architects(!?!) and initiators(!?!). Over months! Neither rooves above nor ground below work and little in between.
See also post
Input: The Farmers' Market
1 March 2016
below.
Simply - the design should have been based on an acknowledged specific purpose, grounded in common sense: not the designers'/initiators' egos taking flight. On the Flying Nun's wimple!
Many vendors have been increasingly feeling insufficiently or not at all consulted in the decision-making process - starting with the overly hasty demolition of the previous market. While quite rightly they are the only experts in this!
So now the City goes back to start - not collecting 200. In fact, taxpayers (including local vendors!) are short 12.600. Because actually a new market won't be ready until sometime in maybe 2017 possibly, and the coming season will be spent in tents. Sound familiar? Mind you: now it's the vendors' tents.
To Be Considered For The Market Proper
1. Functionality - Stalls
a)
Stalls should be under a single continuous roof - there may be several (possibly 3) stall-units: a square/rectangle with one side open - the empty core possibly used for smaller performances, exhibits, demonstrations. Individual stalls to be separated from each other with (re)movable partitions - about 4' high. Allowing for stalls to be reconfigured according to need.
The market must provide an environment in which vendors/customers are/feel relatively safe from rain, wind, sun. Planning must be conservative-functional, based on a worst-case scenario: for instance - rain by the bucket lately!
b)
Therefore stall-units need to be raised above ground-level, what with providing sufficient overall drainage being unfeasible.
c)
Therefore stall-units need to have a back - about 4' high - against which vendors can safely stack and keep dry: back-ups.
d)
Therefore the rooves of stall-units need sufficiently extending eaves - with gutters - in the back to provide overall dry/cool shelter there - and in the front to keep displayed wares dry/cool - with customers in comfortable dry/cool shopping-mode.
e)
Therefore rooves must not be too high: the higher they are - the easier entry of rain, wind, sun will be made. Incidentally - then hooks in reachable cross-beams would supply additional (hanging-)space for displays of merchandise.
2. Functionality - Ground(s)
The overall ground needs to be level, solid and safe to walk on in any weather - regardless of footwear worn. Wheelchairs? Walkers?
The total space is to be well-lit - in/outsides - on a programmable timer; cleaned and patrolled constantly/consistently by the City: its owner with sole responsibility.
3. Aesthetics
It is impossible to recreate the former Cottonwood Market's historical funkiness, traditional connectedness of vendors/customers: the major draw for locals/tourists. But! An attempt must be made to provide continuity, a similar ambience.
Going wide-open pseudo-edgy can't do that, will put-off vendors/customers - and who needs the "soulless" aberration of a farmers' market on Saturday - when we already have a satisfactory one on Wednesday: familiar, convenient, comfortable and closer.
Reality Check
There may be "official" voices against this kind of design in relation to City Hall's distaste for undesirables and immature yearnings to be cool - but not staying on fixed purpose with the design would create resistance in vendors, customers, thus problems for the City: the market may become an expensive why-bother-going waste of space in Railtown.
Considering the design-context: empty seclusion of an open market most of the week, the month, the year just can't be made other-use proof.
Again: its overall design - including a parkish environment - can only be based on a worst-case scenario - not wishful thinking. It will only take 1 child to play with 1 turd or 1 used needle to shut the whole thing down with a bang! For good!
When all is said and said: in that location the market needs to operate from a building - period - spilling outward during market-hours only; the building itself in constant multi-use year-around and securely locked during off-times.
On a positive note: the delay may give them time to get it right!
Giuseppe Arcimboldo:
ammit.exblog.jp
commons.wikimedia.org
flickr.com
mtb-mag.com
wikiart.org
sbs.wsu.edu
All three are Nelson's often breathless props and (marketing-)ploys to be, become more and stay relevant. With these concepts' inherent value individually and as a natural progression disregarded.
Generally to City Hall "history" and "heritage" are synonymous, as are "culture" and "art".
History
Simply put - this is the aggregate of significant past events recorded in chronological order. Seeing that usually and over time they are recorded - if recorded - by people with varying perspectives: these records may become arbitrarily selective - more historical than historic.
Remembering all, unflinchingly acknowledging dodgy and whited-out parts is of vital importance for (not necessarily to) succeeding generations. Because:
If you don't know history you are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree. Anonymous
An objectively comprehensive, seamless history of Nelson since incorporation has never been recorded; local history is not taught in local schools. Therefore the average Nelsonite knows (and cares) little about the city's history - while claiming to superficially.
Nelson's partial, lovingly written pre-incorporation history by John Norris and the mind-numbingly detailed, often straying off-topic History of Nelson webpage of the Visitor Info Centre stop just as things get really interesting. What with the Visitor Info page - for many years - having promised their history To be continued.
Nelson's present waiting to catch-up with its past.
Heritage as Tradition
Briefly - it is a set of values - a behavioral mindset - passed-on, lived and experientially added to from generation to generation.
While this is the commonly accepted definition - it clearly is not about heritage-tomatoes and buildings!
Smaller social groups within the larger Whole bring their particular heritage to it, and ideally all accept, blend, learn from each other's to eventually - together - form a stronger, more colorful, all-inclusive heritage for following generations to live by.
The goal of multi-culturalism
Heritage as Entitled Attitude
An inherited mindset may be a positive motivating influence while just as easily a negative driving force: when generations of a domineering group - within the Whole's social construct - insist on maintaining a traditional mindset of assumed superiority, power over other weaker so-called minorities.
The failure of multi-culturalism
Heritage as Non-Contextual Label
In Nelson capital H Heritage solely means - usually more historical than historic - buildings, only indirectly connected to heritage. While its previous Community Heritage Commission was fanatically protective of such buildings, the current Heritage Working Group is fiercely protective of no particular mandate. With historic/historical buildings still called "heritage" - out of habit and conceptual linguistic misuse.
Culture
According to Sir Edward Tylor, cultural anthropologist, 1832-1917, culture is that complex whole that includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, custom and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of a society.
Art ideally a refined - imaginative/creative - expression, reflection of a way of life - a culture.
While at City Hall capital C Culture exclusively means capital A Art - usually with little conscious cultural context established.
A culture is the specific ways/means by which humans interact in universal situations within a given social group - positively and/or negatively.
Today moving quickly from one culture into another may present hiccups: culture-shock. Though ideally accepted as of equal value.
The History/Heritage/Culture Connect
The present-day culture of a social group is fed into by inherited traditions, mindsets, experiences of generations - those largely influenced by historical/historic movement.
History begets heritage begets today's culture.
Close to home: The suppression of indigenous and all other non-white groups and their heritage/culture by domineering whites - always whites, in particular WASPs! - through their mindset of superiority/entitlement - became part of following white generations' heritage. Somewhat toned-down in today's culture of the (not quite so) domineering (any longer) group.
Yet covert racism and overt discrimination are alive and well.
A full-blooded heritage!
Without Chinese market-gardeners - despite their often horrific treatment - keeping early Nelson healthy with fresh, inexpensive produce thus in cultural-development mode at a crucial time in its history, working twice as hard for half the pay; disdained hippies in days gone-by fueling the local/area economy with income from high-quality - gasp! - dope: where or what would Baker St. as-is-today be? Two examples only!
History, heritage, culture of others: Unacceptable!
Travis Louie:
travislouie.blogspot.com
churchofhalloween.com
maslindo.com
poetrycafe.com
ektopia.co.uk
culturainquieta.com
skyblue-pink.com
weirdfictionreview.com
Nelson citizens present new ideas for Railtown
Bill Metcalfe, Nelson Star
Feb. 27, 2016
It maybe fun to ooh-and-aah over the pretty computer-renderings - but underneath their slickness a surprising lack of functionality for/as a farmers' market needs to be questioned.
In addition - for any town-folk on the outside looking at (not in!) - it is impossible to get a sense of a cohesive whole, the before/after photo/drawing not enlightening either.
Seeing that a new market has (had?) been fast-tracked since Nov. 2015 as an almost immediate reality: while now critical if still to meet its earlier projected completion come spring - in this public-input presentation it was parked on the slow track, with all other possibles.
Or was it?
Or what!
The Premise
The area this 4-times-a-month/half-of-the-year market expects to occupy - with its close proximity to the Shuzenji Garden and Cottonwood Creek/Falls, at the sheltered very edge of Railtown - is the most desirable.
Attempting to replicate the Cottonwood Market there in a sanitized, jazzed-up version is unrealistic: its popularity was largely rooted in its funky-folky traditional ambience. And the intimacy possible there between customers/vendors, vendors/vendors and customers/customers.
With all that missing in these renderings: this only thus far presented model could at best be an impersonal/generic farmers' market. Impossibly ever as popular as the Cottonwood Market of old (literally!) - with locals and tourists alike.
Where are the heritage-folk in this?
Personally, I resist calling what is to come the Cottonwood Market: to me and many others going/being/shopping there was almost a ritual; there was a feeling of belonging - all in all a most basic thus deeply satisfying pleasure. Soul food!
The Renderings
The roofish covers of individual units - with no structurally seamless continuity - would provide little shelter from the elements.
Their zig-zag/folded/sloping design - shades of Frank Gehry - would have rain rush to their lowest points and from their gush straight down: splashing/spreading onto vendors, their display/storage-spaces and customers. Pooling in (mud-)puddles.
In addition, with more diffused rain slanting in from front or back - invited-in with upward-reaching outside wings, more down through the open center and spaces between units: a wet day would be a very wet day for vendors. And customers while circulating - umbrellas everywhere!
The center-stretch of square concrete blocks forever with greens growing in their hollow core - unsafely awkward to walk on at the best of times - would be even more dangerous accidentally stepped down-into when soggy-squishy. Oops, there goes another ankle!
Back to the covered units: Relatively more protected spots towards the middle of a unit soon to be argued over by vendors - creating bad vibes! - because significant space at both ends would be dodgy during/after rain.
How to minimize hassle with rain and each other? Best never to agree to an end-spot - just in case - unless the sky is blue on blue.
Meaning: at times a significant portion of space is not rented out - deadzone. This - in turn - possibly leading to a shortage of work-spaces. And grumbling!
Unless the whole is redesigned to make it practical, safe - need-based, more user-friendly.
Ironically - reasons for why the Cottonwood Market absolutely had to come down included: the roof was leaking and the place was unsafe.
So now what?
No matter how adjustable overall Railtown planning will be - the question arises: why weren't basic specifics presented above factored out/in for a doable market - BIG question-mark! - considering that local - they should have known better! - Cover Architecture have had the Council-approved scope of work go-ahead and funding of $12.600 for it since Nov. 2015.
Last week's stakeholder-charrette produced - sort-of impromptu - a surprising number of interesting possibilities for Railtown development. We can feel good about that!
While not so much about the market-proposal. Putting it among the just-ideas is inappropriate: its designers all along have been working on a different, reality-now trajectory of time, funding, professional expertise. Here pretending to be one of the gang is ludicrous - they never have been. No matter how they position themselves/are positioned: hands-on results shown to the public for the first time - 4 months after inception of the project - have been very limited, in terms of presentation and its feasibility.
This market-design is not a matter of having the public input a tweak here a tweak there to let them feel part of the process: this is a fundamentally inadequate design!
Another point to be addressed now is the - recorded in the same Request For Decision for which the above approval was given - unidentified(!?!) community business-partner who wanted to participate in the market and contribute an unspecified(!?!) amount of money to it.
Who is he, how much - but particularly WHY? Seeing that much of the proposed market seemingly is to be constructed with wood, and Kevin Cormack, City Manager, said at that time that Mr. X deals in wood. Major dots!
Constructing a hasty new part-time market - a cavalier use of location, funding, resources and goodwill - would need infra-structure of many tentacles, with probable impact on later development elsewhere.
Cultural Center
What Nelson does need is a cultural center. And in that space.
Also on the subject
Fernie: The Arts Station and How It's Done!
8 Feb, 2016
Our center including a farmers' market: starting earlier, finishing later and occasion-based run during off-season. Safe!
And while that center takes time to come to fruition - along with much else in Railtown development - a Saturday-market can comfortably spend its customary part-time on Baker St.
All in good time!
Market Photos:
Bill Metcalfe
Other Images:
cz.depositphotos.com
splashdreamstime.com
shutterstock.com
rockndirtyard.com
Trudeau Backs Conservative Motion Condemning BDS Movement Against Israel
Canadian Press, 22/02/16
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals have joined forces with the Official Opposition to overwhelmingly approve a Conservative motion condemning Canadians who promote the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel.
About a dozen Liberals refused to vote on the motion, which passed by a vote of 229-51; one Liberal voted against it.
Nevertheless, the fact that Trudeau and most Liberals supported it prompted NDP Leader Tom Mulcair to charge that the prime minister is once again aligning himself with the Tories to suppress the civil liberties of advocacy groups.
Mulcair says Trudeau did the same thing last year when he chose to support the Conservative Government's controversial anti-terrorism legislation (C-51), which New Democrats and other critics maintain equates legitimate dissent with terrorism.
The Tory motion calls upon the government to condemn any attempts by Canadian groups or individuals(!!!) to promote the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement which it describes as promoting "demonization and deligitimization" of Israel.
"This goes against the freedom of expression we hold so dear in our society," Mulcair said following the vote Monday.
"I am thrilled that the great majority of Liberals voted in favor of it when we had a free vote," said Anthony Housekeeper, Liberal MP for the Montreal riding of Mount Royal, whose riding includes a large Jewish population.
Controversial vote by McGill students supports BDS
Montreal Gazette, 23/02/16
There were celebratory cheers and dancing as students at McGill University voted for the first time on Monday to support a highly controversial and divisive motion in favor of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS).
If you're not at the table - you're on the menu.
Jim Hightower
Columnist
freepik.com
commons.wikimedia.com
cameraoncampus.org
From
ARTiculate - Fall/Winter 2015-16
by
Jesse Bell
THE FERNIE ARTS STATION CELEBRATES
There is a historic railway station in downtown Fernie that has been transformed into a bustling community space, helping turn this small mountain town into a hub for all things arts and culture.
The Arts Station, with a glorious Rocky Mountain backdrop and a vibrant atmosphere, is a quaint cultural space - a home, really - that celebrates its 25th anniversary.
.......
Built in 1908 as an original Canadian Pacific Railway Station, the building survived neglect and vandalism, avoided demolition and was (moved and) refurbished in 1991 by volunteers. A space for newcomers, artists and art-lovers to gather, The Arts Station has offered live theatre, workshops in photography and pottery, quilting and painting ever since.
Today the station is painted soft blues and yellows, surrounded by a wraparound deck and beautiful barrels of flowers in the summertime. The town name is painted proudly on the roof of the building.
The main lobby acts as a gallery, with new art featured monthly. The original ticket office is the space of an energetic restaurant, the Blue Toque Diner, and the 100-seat theatre - at one time used as a baggage room for train passengers - brings in both local and out-of-town musicians. The basement is a space for musicians and potters, while quilters, painters, weavers and other textile enthusiasts have the upstairs studio.
The station is home base to the Fernie & District Arts Council, which works tirelessly to bring art and community together, playing host to summer socials and supporting various cultural ventures year-round. The motto of The Arts Station is Create + Connect which it continues to do with great pleasure.
www.theartsstation.com
Differences in repurposing the station in Fernie and Nelson are striking.
The Arts Station's focus is to give to the community: multi-discipline socio-cultural development in an imaginatively used setting. Fun!
The NDCC Station's focus - thus far - is financial profit in an underutilized setting. Fun taken to the bank!
What Fernie - considerably smaller than Nelson - and its Fernie & District Arts Council saw 25 years ago was the need for a cultural centre downtown - a heart.
I have previously proposed - and propose here again - a similar place as the centre of Railtown. Giving it - thus Nelson - a cultural heart-beat. Its sound then drawing like-minded, visionary investment. Providing a reason.
By their nature and focus - neither the NDCC Station nor a part-time Cottonwood Market can be/do that for Railtown. A weaker pulse.
In support of THE HEART I am quoting from post
To/At/From THE HEART
14 Dec, 2015
THE HEART
is a multi-purpose meeting-place of exceptional design and function in Railtown.
Among others it facilitates:
Easily convertible meeting-, class-, in/outdoor-performance space
Rental/lease based on specific need/time
Easily convertible recording-, studio-, gallery-space
Rental/lease based on specific need/time
Easily set-up/taken-down Cottonwood Market
Lease permanent part-time
Cafe
Lease permanent part/full-time
Nelson lacks spaces such as these: providing/combining them all gives cultural focus, makes THE HEART a continuous draw for locals and tourists: users and visitors.
Cottonwood Market at THE HEART
Several convincing arguments present themselves for making the market part of this centre - the whole City-owned/supervised under one roof.
1.
What locals and tourists appreciated about the old market was its homey-folksy-funky ambiance, its visible history - appreciated regardless of parking-and-whatever-else issues. This ambiance will be lacking in a sanitized, stand-alone, parking-for-days farmers' market.
It is naive to assume that the reincarnation can enjoy the same popularity - ever!
2.
The centre and market under one roof are of symbiotic benefit/support: crowds coming for one are there for the other.
3.
While a stand-alone market only operates on a part-time basis: off-time upkeep and security must be of major on-going concern.
4.
There is no detailed documented relationship between Council and the EcoSociety concerning a new market - aside from Council (too hastily!) approving $12.000 of tax-payered funds for a pre-plan plan(!?!). To be generated by a hitherto silent private company: while local - not introduced in Council. Since that cash-transfer: nothing!
This pre-plan plan - as a basis for the real thing - by now should have been presented to Council for approval. Because - even though a definitive design (supposedly!) eventually has to be approved - once presented with that - clearly rather later than sooner - Council will hardly say no. The EcoSociety's pressure-clincher then undoubtedly: Too late for changes! The market must be up NOW!!!
Not so: the market can easily be held on Baker St. until its new quarters within the cultural centre are ready!
Has Council repeated the Hall St. fiasco: signing-off on hear-say only - and now/then what?
5.
Funding is more prudently channeled into an all-inclusive cultural/community centre - quite naturally including a farmers' market.
6.
Combining infra-structure - including roads/parking - for THE HEART/market allows for a more frugal use of available space.
7.
Leaving the best bits of City-owned Railtown property to a very part-time, very privately run City-market means NO! to other possibilities.
With a cultural/community centre: Fernie has been "there" for 25 years - Nelson finally must (and has an opportunity to) get "there" now! An advantage THE HEART has: it can conceptualize from scratch - no limits! And while downtown, there are green, quiet outdoor-possibilities: essential!
Baffling: Nelson's cultural development ambitions - while concentrating efforts (and copious funding) on unconnected bits-and-pieces of limited shelf-life - have never yet envisioned a permanent home-base.
It is not good enough to leave planning of Railtown to a very large group of individual profit/ego-driven stakeholders - with their diverse interests roughly coming together. And then needing all that to be (seamlessly?) smoothed-out by an outside-consultant. This can only end in a compromise-plan: with its results - dictating Railtown's development for years - we may come to regret down the line.
I suggest that those guiding the planning-process of Railtown connect with the City of Fernie, the Fernie & District Arts Council and other smallish towns with cultural centres. And the impact these centres have on the towns' development thus tourism.
Then plan according to founded-in-sensibility example - instead of inexperienced-in-this very special interests.
Time to grow(-up) - think bold!
All images - except that of the hearts - are of The Arts Station
oldnurse.com
ferniefix.com
bcmusicianmag.com
nonstopfernie
theartsstation.com
offtomexico.com
trip-suggest.com
brusheezy.com
