24 sussex

[Topaz]

The news today says the PM house needs 10 million dollar repair but I wondering if it would be cheaper and easier to build a new place. It will take 1.5 years to repair it and I would think it wouldn't take that long to build new, anyone know? If they build new they can save alot of the materials from the present house. The longer they wait the more it will cost and they could get some rebates back for new windows etc.

[guyser]

The news today says the PM house needs 10 million dollar repair but I wondering if it would be cheaper and easier to build a new place. It will take 1.5 years to repair it and I would think it wouldn't take that long to build new, anyone know?

If it needs $10M to repair, you could not replace in 1.5 years , well at least without having every single stone mason, bricklayer and carpentry guy in the Ottawa area working on it.

It would take 1.5 years to dismantle and save what they want.

Fix it, dont replace it.

[M.Dancer]

Who needs history or tradition? Surely there's a nice condo they can rent....maybe a n semi nice detached with a jacuzzi in Hull..

[guyser]

....maybe a n semi nice detached with a jacuzzi in Hull..

Alright enough.

I have visions of harper in his black vest, cowboy boots and hat and a speedo.

(think Burt Reynolds in Striptease.....ewww)

It would also send one particular ottawa poster over the edge, a PM living in Hull...?....thats a violation of democracy and our illegal and unconstitutional charter ad naseum.

[Melanie_]

Did you really have to put that image in my head? I know I'll have nightmares tonight!

I can't imagine what kind of repairs would require 10 million dollars. Link?

[BubberMiley]

Perhaps Harper would feel more at home in a Calgary-style bungalow made of sawdust, glue and Tyvek wrap, clad in vinyl with an oversize double garage in front.

[August1991]

Urgent repair work is required to Downing Street because parts of the 17th century building, renovated by William Kent in the 1730s, are rapidly deteriorating, MPs have been told.

The official residence of the British Prime Minister was last refurbished in the early 1960s, but decades of doubling as the heart of government and the Prime Minister’s residence have taken a further toll on the structure.

Link

Not long after the Truman Balcony was completed, the main body of the mansion was found to be structurally unsound. Floors no longer merely creaked; they swayed. The president's bathtub was sinking into the floor. A leg of Margaret's piano broke through the floor in what is today the Private Dining Room. Engineers did a thorough examination and found plaster in a corner of the East Room sagging as much as 18 inches. Wooden beams had been weakened by cutting and drilling for plumbing and wiring over 150 years, and the addition of the steel roof and full third floor in 1927 added weight the building could no longer handle. They declared the whole house to be in imminent danger of collapse.

Plans were discussed to demolish the building and rebuild it to the same design, but in the end, Truman went to Congress and requested the funding to rebuild the White House from the inside out, leaving only the stout brick outer walls and the rebuild the interior largely on the same plan as the existing house—very much the way President James Madison had done in 1814.

Link

La Vème République conservera l'Elysée comme palais présidentiel. La distribution des pièces en sera profondément modifiée pour répondre aux nouvelles exigences de la fonction présidentielle.

....

Cette nouvelle distribution, qui correspond à la division traditionnelle des grandes demeures du XVIIIème siècle, sera maintenue par les successeurs du Général de Gaulle.

Link

To my knowledge, the only major changes at 24 Sussex was the construction of Trudeau's swimming pool and the addition of the RCMP security centre. It remains essentrially a house of a rich lumber trader from the 19th century. The floors creak, the ceilings are high and the rooms are small.

24 Sussex is significant because it has no offices in it. The PM can have small, informal meetings and do dinner parties but that's about it.

Frankly, I think they should do a "1948-Truman" gut the place, keep the shell and then redo the structure entirely. They could add some offices for people that the PM needs nearby, add decent meeting rooms and redo entirely the security.

Harper would have to move out for a year or two. I think they redid Stornoway like that so now Dion actually has a functioning residence.

(think Burt Reynolds in Striptease.....ewww)

The scene with the vaseline in the boots! Edited May 7, 2008 by August1991

[jdobbin]

Harper would have to move out for a year or two. I think they redid Stornoway like that so now Dion actually has a functioning residence.

Harper should move out now to let work begin so that Dion has a refurbished residence at 24 Sussex ready when he becomes prime minister.

Edited May 7, 2008 by jdobbin

[Michael Bluth]

Harper should move out now to late work begin so that Dion has a refurbished residence at 24 Sussex ready when he becomes prime minister.

What a tremendous addition to the discussion. First poster guilty of a partisan and pointless attempt at highjacking the thread, survey says ... you guessed it

I agree with August. Keep the shell and gut the inside. Let's have our PM living in the manner the head of government of a first world nation should.

[jbg]

Harper should move out now to late work begin so that Dion has a refurbished residence at 24 Sussex ready when he becomes prime minister.

I take it you mean "let work begin". Grammar aside, your post is presumptuous and pointless.

[jbg]

The news today says the PM house needs 10 million dollar repair but I wondering if it would be cheaper and easier to build a new place. It will take 1.5 years to repair it and I would think it wouldn't take that long to build new, anyone know? If they build new they can save alot of the materials from the present house. The longer they wait the more it will cost and they could get some rebates back for new windows etc.

You guys burned down 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC and we rebuilt it. Why wouldn't you rebuild yours?

[jdobbin]

Perhaps Harper would feel more at home in a Calgary-style bungalow made of sawdust, glue and Tyvek wrap, clad in vinyl with an oversize double garage in front.

If he doesn't win the next election, he may decide to pack it up and do just that.

[Michael Bluth]

If he doesn't win the next election, he may decide to pack it up and do just that.

What a tremendous addition to the discussion. First poster guilty of a partisan and pointless attempt at highjacking the thread a second time, survey says ... you guessed it

[Wilber]

What a tremendous addition to the discussion. First poster guilty of a partisan and pointless attempt at highjacking the thread a second time, survey says ... you guessed it

Yup

[jdobbin]

Yup

This is a political forum. We can be as partisan as we want to be.

I could have said that the next place Harper could end up living might be the big house. heh

[Michael Bluth]

This is a political forum. We can be as partisan as we want to be.

I could have said that the next place Harper could end up living might be the big house. heh

From the forum rules.

We define "trolling" as a message that serves no constructive purpose and is likely to cause offence or arguments.

What exactly was the constructive purpose of your past three posts?

Edited May 7, 2008 by Michael Bluth

[Wilber]

This is a political forum. We can be as partisan as we want to be.

I could have said that the next place Harper could end up living might be the big house. heh

We can also discuss the future of a historic building and the PM's residence regardless of their party or ignore the problem and make stupid partisan statements.

I say refurbish it, you don't trash an important part of our history because of a bottom line.

[August1991]

This is a political forum. We can be as partisan as we want to be.

I could have said that the next place Harper could end up living might be the big house. heh

If I had to pick a candidate "most likely" to wind up in the empty refrigerator carton on a Montreal sidewalk, I'd go with Dion rather than Harper.

What exactly was the constructive purpose of your past three posts?

Dunno, but then I often ask that question about many posters and posts.

Gibes aside, Hillary Clinton once described the White House as like living in a hotel. There's essentially no privacy, nothing is really yours and everything has an institutional pallour.

Harper, Harper's kids and Dion all know well that it's not their house.

BTW, the PM also gets Harrington Lake which is nice.

Edited May 7, 2008 by August1991

[nothinarian]

The news today says the PM house needs 10 million dollar repair but I wondering if it would be cheaper and easier to build a new place. It will take 1.5 years to repair it and I would think it wouldn't take that long to build new, anyone know? If they build new they can save alot of the materials from the present house. The longer they wait the more it will cost and they could get some rebates back for new windows etc.

Not used to sticking up for politicians but think about this ridiculous scenario

24 Sussex is in a shambles - putting plastic on the windows because of winter drafts in a prime ministers residence ... huh ?

Excuse me Mr. Bush or Mandela or Brown - you may want to put on your overcoat if you are going to sit near the bay window

Martin put up with the shame and Harper will likely do the same

Issue is national pride and second rate impressions but media would run a headline like "Harpers sinks millions in Mansion" not "NCC to undertake much needed renovations"

Ah the pleasures of a sensationalist media in a headline world/sound byte/snippet world

[jdobbin]

I can't imagine what kind of repairs would require 10 million dollars. Link?

It does seem steep. I have no idea if the building is considered a heritage site or not. It really has only been used as a residence for PMs since 1951 and no one seem to be considering whether it may be wiser to build a new building or change locations.

Harper says he's not moving even though Duceppe, Layton and Dion say the work should be done. Who knows when the work will be done? Heaven forbid the place burned down without sprinklers in place and a family living there while the Auditor's report sat somewhere gathering dust.

[Wilber]

How many here live in a house with sprinklers? On the inside I mean.

[jdobbin]

If I had to pick a candidate "most likely" to wind up in the empty refrigerator carton on a Montreal sidewalk, I'd go with Dion rather than Harper.

Considering Harper isn't from Montreal, you are probably right.

Think it is a little dumb for him to not take the Auditor's report and the full support of the Opposition as a hint that not staying at 24 Sussex won't bring down the government. He should take his family out of the fire hazard described in the Auditor's report. Some things are more important.

[jdobbin]

How many here live in a house with sprinklers? On the inside I mean.

So you think the Auditor should face an audit for suggesting an expensive sprinkler system for the official residence?

[nothinarian]

How many here live in a house with sprinklers? On the inside I mean.

This consultation paper proposes that changes be made to the Building Code that would require new multiple-unit residential buildings higher than 3 storeys be sprinklered. Sprinkler requirements within the building would apply to residential suites, service areas, and common areas such as corridors.

The proposed requirements would also cover the residential portions of mixed-use buildings exceeding 3 storeys. Since 1997, the Code has generally required fire sprinklers in other non-residential occupancies in high buildings.

This consultation paper is not proposing to require sprinklers in smaller residential buildings, including houses, nor mandate the retrofit of existing buildings.

see exerpt for proposed changes to ontario building code

congrats - you win - 24 sussex does not/will not require sprinklers

[Wilber]

So you think the Auditor should face an audit for suggesting an expensive sprinkler system for the official residence?

No