there goes the neighborhood, just the begining?

[mbhenty]

Yes,

The Brayton Point Power Plant in Somerset, the biggest coal fired power plant in New England, is building these two huge, colossal 30 million dollar cooling chimney towers. Construction into the first tower is well underway.

These behemoths are going to be 500 feet tall. That is over 40 stories tall.

I suppose these things need to go somewhere............

These towers, along with the rest of the power plant, will add to the ugliness that overlooks the grotesque Braga Bridge.

(Boy, this guys full of jolly information.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, if LIZZIE were alive today and she walked down her front steps to the sidewalk and looked to the right, the tower would take up a good part of her visible horizon.

If you are standing in front of MAPLECORFT and look down French street your eye will go straight to this humongous ugly tower.

Below is a photo of what these towers look like and of the actual tower being built, and the view of it from MAPLECORFT.

[mbhenty]

Meanwhile, Hess/LNG is proposing to build an almost quarter mile long pumping dock smack in the middle of beautiful Mount Hope Bay. The sight would be one of utter disaster for the towns of Tiverton, Bristol, Warren, Swansea, Somerset and fall river. It would completely ruin the grace and splendor of a beautiful bay and sit right in the middle of the water between the Braga and Mount Hope Bridge like an enormous festering septic boil.

Sad, really.

I rather see the tankers come all the way up the river to fall river, then ruin it all for all the other towns and the entire bay and boating community.

[Debbie]

I know progress will not be stopped, but these sites are ruining our landscape. I read just today about large wind mills off Cape Cod. They too are going to spoil a beautiful view.
I understand about the needs of energy, but the photos show the price we are paying.

[mbhenty]

Yes, I always felt that these wind turbines should go right down the middle of the highway medium. Ugly is as ugly does. And if it's going to be ugly, you might as well place it with the ugly interstate systems in this country.

The only real solution to the energy problem, global warming, etc., is population control. The fact that humanity thinks that technology is the answer is a cop out.

When I was born there were 2 and a half billion people on the planet. In three more years that will top 7 billion and by 2050 over 9 billion.

Is it really realistic to think that we will be living as one happy world family?

The only real answer is population control. Pure and simple. And to that I say, "good luck."

Now,

On the topic of Emma and Lizzie, both who did well to help keep down the population---

My opinion would be just as erroneous as most. We must consider the pressure Emma was under having to live in fall river, the looks she must have received, idle comments heard, it must have been unbearable. Why else would Emma leave town? These certainties must be considered and probably played a crucial part in Emma leaving Maplecorft. What ever the reason, it is probably not as spectacular as most would have it.

[mbhenty]

Oh, oh, wrong thread for the Emma info. posted above.

[mbhenty]

Yes, the "I told you so" has come home to bite fall riverites in the buns just like they knew it would.

Even before the ground was disturbed for the building of the new court house across from 92 Second Street, anyone with common sense or the simplest amebic brain would know that you don't plan such a large structure without first submitting a plan for parking.

Well, they did not and now everyone is beginning to panic.

What a barrel full of maggots. At least that is what you discover when you pop the lid off of city hall.

Why the residents of this once fair city stand for such corruption is a sad commentary on the caliber of character of its citizenry. Some of whom take there petty little apples, hide in their little corner of town and shine away, having no clue to the worm within.

When the barrel is full and the weight of the maggots supersede the the quantity and force of the inhabitants it is time to gather one's fruits of labor and go else where.

The only pride left in this city is appreciated by those who profit off its lost opportunities.

If not so preposterous it would be sad.

Perhaps fall river deserves it.



Article below from today's Herald News.


http://www.heraldnews.com/news/x7492233 ... or-parking

[mbhenty]

Yes, you must keep in mind that this new building is not a hotel with designer stores on the ground floor, though it is made to look that way-------it's a court house.

Lawyers and criminals. Great new addition....


NOT

[Harry]

Goodbye Kelly house ...

It's very tempting.

[mbhenty]

Yes Harry:

This too must be considered. I'm sure you added your perspective with tongue-in-cheek----but we cannot overlook it.

They could actually purchase that entire block. Lizzie's childhood residence would mean nothing, nothing................and........did I say nothing, to them.

Synopsis: There are 7 properties on that block. Six of them have homes or business on them including one corner lot.

Now,

let us say they offer everyone between 450 and 600K for each property; well above market value.

Lets add one Mil. for the Borden place....even a million/2. That's between 4 and 5 million dollars.

The court house had a budget of 85 million---whats another 9 or 10 to build a parking deck

Once they take that block, they can build a small 3 or 4 level parking deck and fit 300 to 400 cars.

Could happen. I would not blink for a minute. It's the most logical conclusion and one that I bet is being considered.

They could even leave the Borden Place intact and LeeAnn could check in parking passes.

[Fargo]

This is insane. Doesn't anyone think before they do anything ?

I know of a man who bought a piece of property up on a huge rock cliff overlooking the town, because he wanted a house with a great view. He already had the construction on the house about half way completed before the thought hit him.

How am I going to get water up here on this big rock?

The court house in Fall River makes me think of this guy.

[Stefani]

OOPS

[mbhenty]

This is one of the things that is wrong and incompetent about fall river.

It's called a "ken fiola".

Fiola (small f like the city he lives in) fiola, a Durfee High School ex-jock and city official had a couple of answers to the parking issues at the new court house. This from a man who has the title of vice president of the fall river office of economic development.

One of his answers to the courthouse parking is to PARK ON THE STREET A QUATER OF A MILE AWAY, FEED A PARKING METER, AND WALK A QUARTER MILE TO THE COURTHOUSE. fiola said... quote:

(taken from the herald news yeasterday)

"There are also 1,100 on-street metered spots within a quarter mile of the courthouse, Fiola said. The city is considering allowing more than the two hours the meters allow now. City officials are also considering increasing the meter rates. Currently the meters give a half hour of parking for a quarter, up to two hours."


http://www.heraldnews.com/news/x8261069 ... me-of-need

Yeah, right......... "HEY JUDGE, CAN YOU UNDUE THESE HANDCUFFS SO I CAN WALK 5 BLOCKS AND FEED THE PARKING METER" WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T DO DAT? WHAT? AGAINST WHAT LAW?



Pathetic.

[mbhenty]

YES Stefani: What do you mean by "oops"? Did you drop your keyboard?

[mbhenty]

The tower has grown. Compared to the photo above, it is now above the horizon. What an eye soar. The photo below was taken from the sidewalk out front of Maplecroft.

It is huge.

in a straight line, as the crow flies, it is just about 2 and a half miles from Maplecorft. It will be going much higher. Once finished, not only will it be very visible from Maplecroft but also from the old Borden place in Swansea...a half mile away.

[Stefani]

UGLY. UGLY. UGLY.

[SteveS.]

I can't believe they are building such a monstrosity. The Taunton River and Mt. Hope Bay shoreline especialy when seen from the hills are one of Fall River's treasures. Wake up Fall River and Somerset! Stop these politicians from doing these things.

[mbhenty]

OK, yes, if you live anywhere near the bay or river there is no escaping this thing.

Above I posted photos of the cooling towers, including one photo of what Lizzie would see from Maplecroft, if she were around.

So you see, Lizzie is annoyed by the new Ugliness which hovers on the horizon as she looks down French Street.

So she takes her escape to her Swansea Farm.

OH NO !!!!!!!!!

You guessed it.

The photo below was taken right out front the Borden Farm in Swansea.

This is the view out the Borden Farm window.

This ugliness will follow you like a looming wart.

Since this photo was taken the tower is much taller still.

[mbhenty]

Yes, Again..........

The photo below was taken this evening, just short of darkness.

If you compare it with the photos above which I took of the tower out front Maplecroft, you can see it has grown by leaps and bounds. Much taller and just about completed..........as far as its height is concerned. Just out of the shot to the left is another tower you can't see.

The photo was taken just outside Maplecorft.

[jcurry]

Progress, which you can't fight, prohibits people from living in a wishful time warp. Fall River seems to be blind and deaf to the protests of eroding and demolishing its historic buildings. Now, its skyline - again, a victim of progress.

Your photos are lovely, mbhenty.

[mbhenty]

yes, jcurry:


Though fall river had no say in the placing of the cooling towers, it is the recipient of the eye soar on its horizon. (Somerset, where the power plant resides, had no choice either, since it was a federally mandated decision)

Though, it is true that fall river has no respect for its past and its archival edifices. It will go as far as to fight any group that wants to save one, using any excuse it can muster. In the background there is always a city official or his cousin that will benefit from the destruction of fall rivers historical past.

I know some here think me over the top. But if you lived here you would understand.



Except for a very tiny group of concerned citizens the majority of fall riverites just don't give a dan. [sic]

One fellow wrote in the Herald News that he thought the towers were beautiful and that they should light them up at night. Nature lover I suppose?

It's a losing battle loving someone or something that does not love itself.
Such is this place I live in.

Here is one more photo.

Hope the poke in the eye doesn't hurt to much!

[mbhenty]

Yes, I was wrong when I said in one of the posts above that the towers were almost finished. It went much higher.

Now they are finished.

Safety lights flash at night along the rim 500 feet from the ground.

Maplecroft is just to the right with its dimwitted satellite dish on the roof of the front porch.

Standing in front of Maplecrft one feels like they can just reach out and touch them, even though they are 2 miles away.

It will not be long before the power plant submits license for Nuclear.

At least that's my take on it.

[mbhenty]

Yes, well.......OK. I know I go on and on about this. You may be thinking, "alright all ready, enough....

But, it's just that I can't get over how much something like this destroys an entire neighborhood for hundreds.

Sad.

I am speaking about the Gardner's Neck Road area where Lizzie Borden had her summer home. (farm)

If you remember, I posted what the towers (one tower) looked like from the front door of the Borden Farmhouse in Swansea in a previous post above.

Well today I took another photo on my way to the marina.

One photo is a repeat of a photo I posted above.

The second photo was taken today as I stopped my car in the middle of the road right in front of Lizzie's farmhouse.

Sad, ugly. Such a nice quite charming and pretty neighborhood.

Now look at what they have to look at everyday.

What a nightmare.

[patsy]

Yes so ugly. Makes me sick to my stomach.

[Angel]

mhenty- were you born in Fall River?

[mbhenty]

Yes Angel. fall river, all my life.

Born on Canonicus Steet, corner of Quequechan Street directly across from the old Davis School, just about a block from the Weybosset Steet; address where Morse had visited the day of the murders.

At the time Mom was paying 7 dollars a week rent for a two bedroom.........no hot water, no tub.

I didn't see a real tub till I was 7 years of age.

Back then on bath day a galvanize tub was taken out of the closet and set on the kitchen floor. A curtain was set up for privacy and hot water was heated on the kitchen stove.

But then again.........more info then you expect, eh?