Infill Housing # 22

As you will see, this was actually written a long time ago. Since that time the construction projects have all progressed, accompanied by an ever-changing variety of noises, all annoying in their own way.

Noise!

I can't believe it's June the 11th  already. In spite of these strange, at home-times, the weeks are going fast for us. Here on Kenora, we are surrounded by six active construction sites. It's the noise that we mind the most. It wakes us up every day at 7 am sharp. (Some days earlier!) My first question of the day is usually, "Which site is that noise coming from? Who is first off the mark today? " Is it the huge project at Elmdale School or some of the residential re-builds? It could be the rumble of heavy machinery, the buzz of a saw, hammering, the rat-a-tat-tat of an air hammer, the hiss of a truck's air brakes,  workers yelling to each other, the hum of a generator or the high-pitched beep beep of a truck backing up. The variety of sounds is endless. So, once you are awakened, you lie there and they all gradually start and there you are, right in the middle of a symphony of construction noise. It goes on all day long.

Cement being poured in the footings at 77 Kenora

More cement being poured at 65 Kenora

While it's hard to say which noise is the worst, this particular monster is at the top of my list. The steel pole here, bangs the cement relentlessly, breaking it up into pieces. This photo was taken the day after the house demolition, as they worked to take out the basement and foundation walls.

77 Kenora

Even louder that the pounding on the concrete were the enormous thuds, as the concrete chunks were deposited into dump trucks.

You might think that a holiday like Canada Day might guarantee you some peace and quiet but no. A huge load of gravel was dumped in front of 77 that day and a bobcat was busy all day long, bringing the gravel to the back of the site. Nothing says Happy Canada Day like the beep beep of that machine, all day long. We called the city but were informed that construction sites are allowed to work on statuary holidays starting at 7 am, which they did!

A Gift Year at School ?

Ah, summer holidays…Although we are now officially into summer, parents are extremely concerned about their children's upcoming school year.  In spite of these unusual times, teachers had to come up with end-of-year report cards. Was the option of repeating a grade suggested for any of Ontario’s students? Probably not.

In May, Monika Ferenczy has a piece in the Ottawa Citizen, questioning Ontario's policy of relentlessly pushing students along, year after year. To read Should some students repeat this school year,  click here. 

I wholeheartedly agree with Ms. Ferenczy, who questions Ontario’s education policy of social promotion  - that is,  “ placing children in grades according to their birth year”. I have long thought that parents should have a greater say about their child’s grade level.

 As Ferency stated, various provinces have differing cut-off dates for grade placement. If you live in Quebec and your 6th birthday is in October, you will be placed in Kindergarten. If you live in Ontario and your 6th birthday is even later, on December 31st, you are in grade 1. 

I am not advocating that we “fail” students. What I suggest is that some students would benefit from an extra year in the primary division (Kindergarten to Grade Three). As Malcolm Gladwell  pointed out in The Outliers, kids born in the latter part of the year. “through no fault of their own - have been dealt a big disadvantage by the educational system.”

 As a parent and grandparent, I am grateful that two of my family members were given the opportunity for an extra year in the primary division.  I do not look upon this as a failure. Rather, it is the gift of time. These children were given an extra year, a gift year. 

As a special education teacher, (now retired) I often had students with late fall birthdays, who were struggling to keep up with their peers. When they turn 7, at the end of December, they are in a class with other students who will turn 8 in January. It’s hard to keep up with classmates who are almost an entire year older than you. 

 When you choose to have your child repeat a year, you take the student from being the youngest in the class to being the oldest. You give them the tremendous advantages of time, maturity and increased confidence.

 One in ten students has a learning disability. They learn differently, they need more individual instruction and they require extra time to master skills. A learning disability, coupled with a late fall birthday, presents a tremendous challenge. Giving LD students an extra year in the primary division will not take away their learning disability, but it will take some pressure off and give them more confidence as they work alongside peers closer to their age. 

 I'm reminded of a tiny, timid grade 7 student of mine, who was struggling with all aspects of the curriculum. His parents had begged his elementary school to allow him to repeat grade one but were refused. What a shame he was not allowed the gift of that extra year.

 ESL (English as a Second Language) students are another group who could benefit from an extra year. Canadian schools are so driven by this age appropriate placement policy, when a little common sense suggests that ESL students could really use an extra year to learn English.

  This fall, if some parents feel that their primary grade children could use an extra year, their recommendations should be given serious consideration. A caring, involved parent knows their child better than any teacher or principal ever will, especially this year. If ever there was a time to listen to parents, this is it.  

Corona Times

Why have I not written here in the past two months? I have no exciting excuses, just the mundane.  In spite of these unusual circumstances we have been busy, with family commitments, whether that is helping to care for my mother, having ongoing zoom meetings with our out-of- town grandchildren and now, as our bubble has expanded, spending more time with our in-town granddaughter, Lauren. How lucky we are, to have the wonderful distraction of grandchildren.

Like everyone else, I am weary of this pandemic. It casts a cloud over everything and creates stress and complications. And yet we are getting used to it. We have now been un-invited to the four weddings we had planned on attending this summer and fall. In all cases the happy couples are going ahead with more intimate celebrations and we wish them well....what a memorable way to start off a marriage!

And of course there is the construction. We are literally living in the midst of a construction zone, with six active sites around us. That of course, casts another layer of gloom. Thank goodness we finally got AC last year. On a hot week like this one, we can block out not only the heat, but the dust and some of the noise.

Currently I'm reading Remembering the Bones by Frances Itani. In it she wrote that..."even after horrible events....we are sometimes blessed with a moment of unexpected joy. We learn to grasp, to hold tightly to these moments for the short time they exist."

She's right. In spite of everything, we too have experienced moments of joy and we are very grateful for them. Here's one of them...a four generation visit with my mother, Aaron and Lauren.

And now a challenge to myself  - to post something here, every day for the next week!

Infill Housing #21

Of course # 77 Kenora has departed from its life on Kenora St. The bricks, wood, stairs, plaster, stone, windows...all of it was carted away to landfill, after it was demolished on May 4th. As I stood there, taking photos of it's destruction, I asked myself why. Why was I torturing myself by watching this dreaded act? A very old-fashioned phrase popped into my head. I simply felt I was bearing witness to the loss of yet another of Ottawa's heritage homes.

So here, for the record, is how you demolish a house.

7:38 AM

This pumper truck was a welcome addition to the usual house destruction process. It prevented the clouds of dust  that usually result. 

When I saw the staircase I thought of the kids who grew up here and all the times they must have run up and down those stairs.

Note the way the front door arch is echoed in the archway between the living room and dining room.

9:44 AM

By 11:35 it was pretty well gone. 

And so, at the end of the day, with it's mission accomplished, the monster bowed it's head.

Infill Housing #20

It's all over but the crying

Well, this has been like a long drawn-out death, but we're almost at the finish line. Over the last couple of weeks some preliminary water work was done in front of #77. This involved a lot of commotion and non-stop noise. Even with doors and windows closed, the relentless pounding was enough to drive you crazy.

It was a relief to have that work finished. This past week was quiet, until the dreaded excavator was dropped off yesterday. A few of us old-timers went out when it arrived. We all agreed that of the five houses that we've lost on our block so far, this house is the prettiest. It will be destroyed on Monday.

#77, Facing the gallows

I must admit that I was impressed to learn that the new owners have saved a few items from the house. They gave away a claw foot tub, the furnace, and some lovely French doors. I'm glad to know that not everything will end up in landfill. They will be re-using some of the leaded windows themselves and offered the remainder to neighbours. We'll hang ours,  as a remembrance of a time when houses were built  with high quality materials, integrity,  style and craftsmanship.

Infill Housing # 19

Why do I care about this particular infill project;  #77 Kenora? You would think I'd be used to this by now. What's another house lost? Here's why I care:

We've already got enough construction going on, in our area right now.
It's very close to our house, so the resulting chaos will really affect us.
This is the fifth house to go down, across the street from us in the past few years. We've seen this movie before. We already know the ending.
It's a pretty house! Do you think the new doubles will have these interesting features - the stone, brick, bay window, leaded windows, various peaks, a curved archway over the front door? It's highly doubtful.

For a bit of background on this place, have a look at Infill Housing # 7 of November 2018,  when the place went up for sale. And then, Infill Housing # 14 of June 6th, 2019, after it was sold.

Since the place was sold, I have had numerous conversations with city officials about the city tree out front. While I am not entirely surprised that we have lost it, I had held onto some hope that it might be spared. If it had survived, it would have softened the look of these new doubles, as well as the others already built at 79 and 81. Alas, it was not to be. Although just last April a city arborist determined that the tree was in good condition for its age and size, the "consulting arborist" stated that it was in poor condition. Was it in perfect shape? No, it was an old tree. However, maybe it might have lasted another fifteen or twenty years. The city assessed the value of the tree and the builder paid that fee. Down it goes. Game over.

April 7th. One last look.

All those buds, all those leaves, that lovely canopy, lost.

"Essential" services in action

Last Tuesday, in the midst of  various construction noises, I suddenly recognized the buzz of a chain saw and rushed to the street. Sure enough, the two Japanese lilacs in front of # 77 were being cut down. When asked,  workers confirmed that the amur maple would be next. They assured me that they had the necessary permits to remove the trees.

The owner came along and agreed that it was a shame the tree had to go but that if left, it would interfere with the foundation of the new house. Yes, depending on the size and placement of the new dwelling on the lot,  that could happen.

Around the corner, on Java, there's another new house going up. A friend remarked that it was good to see a builder who respected trees. Here's how that building site looks. The owners here, are erecting a house that will be situated on their lot so that their tree survives. The tree out front has protective fencing around it. Existing trees and new houses can co-exist, it there's a will to do so.

Even this small tree is protected

Protective fencing around front yard tree

You wouldn't know we're in an emergency situation here in Ottawa, to watch those trees on our street be destroyed. Somehow tree destruction and house demolition are essential services! When Premier Ford declared that no new construction could take place now, we thought we might be spared for a while. However, any work that was " in progress" is allowed to go ahead. It turns out that "in progress" means that if your demolition and building permits were issued by April 5th. (And yet we recently learned that the work on our local library branch, has been halted. Go figure!)

So, we will be subject to yet more noise, truck traffic, blocked driveways, and general commotion for the foreseeable future, as we pass our isolation period at home. We have a fairly quiet street and there is even less traffic now, so a number of families have been using the street to play with their young children. That will all change, once the endless trucks take over our block, once again.

Welcome to the spring of our discontent.

Infill Housing #18

Nothing says good morning like the sound of heavy construction equipment. Or, more heartbreaking; the buzz of a chain saw. However, before I relate the sad tale of the trees at # 77 Kenora, let me update you on the general state of Kenora Street. It may take your mind off Covid 19 for a few minutes.

My last infill housing post was in October, back in the days when kids travelled in packs on Halloween and took candy from strangers. By January, the doubles, or "linked singles",  as they were advertised, were more or less finished. The builder moved into the one on the right and kept up his efforts to sell the other side.

The black (left) side was selling for $1.2 million

Meanwhile #77 continued to sit, awaiting its fate, still shielded by the huge maple.

                             
                                 Down the street at #65, work continued on the doubles there.

Of course, there are always a variety of vehicles out front.

I must admit that I have no objection to the size of these doubles. They are two stories, not three, with a sloped roof.  Here's hoping that they might be covered in something other than grey, black or beige and that at some point some greenery, any greenery, might be planted. 

At least they won't overpower their neighbours, like this new place that was recently built on Java, one street over.

By the end of February the left side, #81 was sold.

So it's sold. I wonder when the new owner takes possession. Who will be responsible for the repair work to be done between that new house and the existing house on it's left. Here is the "pathway" between those two houses, now, as of April. The people in the house on the left have not had outdoor access to their back yard since the construction started at # 79 (November 2018).  It started with the gaping, crumbling  hole. Now the house is completed but this ongoing problem is still not resolved. Such is the nature of living next to some infill projects.

On March the 4th we were awakened by construction noise that seemed closer than usual. I looked out our bedroom window to see this project starting at a house on the other side of our block. I guess it's some sort of addition. Although it's more noise, I'm always happy to see someone adding onto an existing house, rather than tearing down a perfectly fine dwelling.

Meanwhile, they were hooking up the gas at #65 Kenora.

However, it wasn't usually the residential projects that woke us up. No, that role went to the construction at Elmdale Public School. In the winter they usually started right at seven every day. I'm not sure if they were still working  this past week.

And here we sit, in our "isolation" area, which is really a construction zone. On Java, behind us, we have the Elmdale School project and the house addition.  Out front, # 79 is more or less finished except for the mess between #81and its neighbour. The doubles at # 65 are progressing. You might think that was enough commotion for one block, but oh no. Next time I will continue with the sad saga of #77.