Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

An absolutely dreadful rubbish tip in Bromborough is finally being cleared after rats were spotted in the area.

Jeremy Poupard, the Deputy Quality Manager for Marine Specialised Technology Group (MST), said it has had a massive impact on his business.

He said: To start with, it was absolutely dreadful, adding People would go out to their cars and see rats coming through the fence in quite large numbers.

READ MORE: Abuse and intimidation of councillors 'increasing' as police called over anonymous email

The rubbish sits on land just off Magazine Lane on Riverbank Road. It was previously managed by a waste management company, which went into voluntary liquidation in 2021.

The Environment Agency said they were working with the current landowners to clear the waste and working with Wirral Council officers to ensure this is done.

In April 2022, MST moved next door where the company built ships and boats, including for the Navy meaning Government officials often visit the site.

He said: The biggest issue is that we have lots of customers on the site. We have people from the Ministry of Defence. I used to say to them that you cant miss us as we are right next to the rubbish tip.

Mr Poupard said that once his wife refused to get out of the car when picking him up because there were about five or six rats running around the car park. It isnt what you would expect at work.

When MST first moved next door, Mr Poupard said he started to make enquiries. He said: I couldnt understand how long it has been there. We got rid of close to 300 tonnes of rubbish from our site but we definitely had some bits coming across from next door.

He said fly tipping was a big issue with people leaving waste outside their gate and was worried about antisocial behaviour both on the site and in the area.

Mr Poupard began contacting both the Environmental Agency and Wirral Council. He was concerned about the environmental impacts and whether any assessments were done on the site.

He said they see a lot of wildlife on their land: Birds nest at the end of our wall, green plover, shell ducks nest on our land and plenty of wading birds. We even have foxes too.

Mr Poupard told The Echo he had been assured the waste would be cleared by February 2023 but believes this is ambitious. However he said that since work has begun to clear the site, it is now a lot better.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: We are working with the landowners of a site in Bromborough to offer advice and guidance around their legal duty to clear their land of waste.

Waste operators are responsible for keeping their sites within permitted levels and clearing the land if necessary. If the waste operator ceases operations, then the landowner becomes responsible for removing waste.

Members of the public can report waste crime to our incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60 or anonymously to Crimestoppers.

A Wirral Council spokesperson said: "The site is private land and not a council tip or authorised in any way by Wirral Council.

"We understand it is currently subject to enforcement action by the Environment Agency with whom council officers are working closely.

We are aware of the understandable concerns the community, local businesses and local elected members have raised. We would urge anyone noticing any further issues there to contact the Environment Agency.

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'Dreadful' tip being cleared after business complains of rats and flytipping - Liverpool Echo

In bid to win trust of project proponents, Maharashtra govt to lift stay on 183 industrial plots allotted after June 1 | File

Amid the ongoing Vedanta Foxconn saga, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday asked the industry department to vacate stay on 183 land allotments to various industrial projects that were earlier cleared after June 1. Of the 191 industrial land allotments, 183 were allotted after June 1 and the Shinde Fadnavis government had asked the industry department to hold a review in order to check that the stipulated norms were followed while clearing those land allotments by the land clearance committee of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).

As reported by the Free Press Journal, those 183 plots were cleared up to August 25 and thereafter MIDC received proposals through e-bidding for another 343 plots. With CMs directives, these plots are expected to be cleared to avoid a trust deficit between the state government and the project proponents, especially in the wake of the Vedanta Foxconn fiasco.

A total of 526 plots were spread over 2,402.5 acres (961 hectares) with a proposed investment of Rs 27,000 crore and 61,000 jobs.

Shinde has reiterated the state governments commitment to facilitate investments and project developments in a hassle-free manner. He has made it clear that major investment proposals are in the pipeline and they will be cleared on a priority basis.

(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here.To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)

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In bid to win trust of project proponents, Maharashtra govt to lift stay on 183 industrial plots allotted - Free Press Journal

In Genshin Impact, A Prayer for Rain on the Fecund Land is the final quest of the Varuna Gatha World Quest series, and is unlocked when youve completed Memory of Stone, Irate Iron Chunk, and Slumbering Roots. A Prayer for Rain on the Fecund Land takes place in and around the Apam Woods in the Ashavan Realm, Sumeru.

Related: How to find and complete the Spire of Solitary Enlightenment Domain in Genshin Impact

If you headed to the Rest Stop at the end of the last quest, then youll already be right in front of the four Aranara you need to talk to at the start of the quest. Otherwise, follow the marker to the Rest Stop and talk to the Aranara. After speaking to them, there is no map marker for the next objective, but the Varunastra is the big tree-stump thing with a glowing orb inside it on the island in the middle of Apam Woods, and it should be right in front of you when the conversation finishes so just head straight for it.

If you follow the Seelie across the water and up the slope, youll get near the Varunastra and get a chest into the bargain. Its possible to get all the way into the center of the Varunastra without completing this objective. If that happens, just go back out again and wander around the island until another conversation is triggered.

After the conversation, the hole in the middle of the Varunastra will open up, so head up the slope and glide down into the hole. Follow the tunnel southwest until you find a Teleport Waypoint and another conversation starts. Go up to the white ball of sluff with blue fungi poking out of it, and interact with it to clear the spores. This will release a fungi boss, the Disturbed Fungus.

Fight the Disturbed Fungus until it runs away. Follow it northeast into the tunnel, fighting it and other fungi. In the cavern with lots of Electro crystals, try to stay away from the crystals, and out of the water generally, as they inflict constant Electro damage. Continue up the tunnel, dashing past the exploding fungi, then in the next chamber, its best to try to stay on the high ledge on the left, away from the exploding fungi.

Continue west along the path to the next cavern, and defeat the Disturbed Fungus once and for all in the clearing at the far end. This will complete the A Prayer for Rain on the Fecund Land quest, and youll get the Rhythm of the Source Water song, which gives you the power to control the weather.

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Genshin Impact A Prayer for Rain on the Fecund Land quest guide - Gamepur

Green Island Bush Farms owner Ross Smaill will be clearing out his shed in Dunedin on Friday. The self-proclaimed workaholic talks to Shawn McAvinue about how his body has been telling him to take it easy since he was involved in a tragic accident.

A Dunedin farmer is slower since a horror crash, but his hard-working mentality remains fighting fit.

Green Island Bush Farms owner Ross Smaill is having a clearing sale on Friday, on the farm where he was born and raised.

The 62-year-old is clearing out his shed in Blackhead due to health reasons.

I should have let go after the accident but Im a stubborn old sod.

The accident happened in 2017. He was driving a 12-tonne truck loaded with bobby calves. He moved left to let a milk tanker pass and went off the sealed State Highway 1, near Edendale.

His truck rolled down a small bank and through a fence before coming to rest on its side in a paddock.

Passengers in his truck were his neighbours 4-year-old boy and the boys 6-year-old twin siblings.

The 4-year-old died in the ambulance, his cause of death ruled to be a cardiac arrest.

The death of the boy affected him and he often reflected on it, especially when he saw young children, he said.

It knocks you back but youve got to get up and get going.

He still displays a picture of the boy at his home.

Hes a wee angel, hes still in your life, hes still there.

Mr Smaills range of injures from the accident included a broken pelvis. His feet were badly injured because they got jammed under the pedals in the crash.

I ripped them out because I had three kids in the truck.

After being discharged from hospital, he remained in a wheelchair for about eight months.

He is still on crutches, has nerve damage and issues with his kidneys.

The physical strength he had before the accident never returned.

You think youll come right but youre not, so youve just got to slow down and work with it but keep doing something to get you out of bed in the morning.

He was a self-proclaimed workaholic.

One of six children, he left school aged 15 and took over the family dairy farm. About two years later he was milking about 50 cows.

The teenagers working day would start at 3am to milk the herd, before he started his full-time job as a boner at Burnside Freezing Works - some weeks he worked up to 90 hours, until the plant closed in 2008.

During his time at the works, he bought more land and quadrupled the number of cows he was milking, a mix of Friesians and Ayrshires.

The farm produced part of the town milk supply.

It was milking twice a day, seven-days-a-week, for nearly 40 years.

That was my bread and butter.

After the meat works closed, he diversified his business interests, including fencing and completing three residential subdivisions in Dunedin.

It was all go.

The success of the subdivisions prompted him to stop milking cows about a decade ago. He wanted to stay in farming, so he brought in beef calves to rear.

Farming is ingrained in you.

He was selling all his heavy machinery on Friday to stop him being tempted to do work, which his body was not up for.

After the sale, he would continue to rear calves on about 12ha, he said.

Ive got to have something to do, otherwise Ill go nuts.

The plan was to stay living on his farm where life was good, spending time with friends and family.

Both men played Green Island Rugby Football Club, Mr Smaill as a prop. A photo on the wall shows Mr Smaill pouring a beer for All Blacks great Colin Meads, at a function in 2006.

He used to be a boxer and competed at tournaments.

A promotional poster for one of the tournaments - The South Island Golden Gloves at Mayfair Theatre in South Dunedin - hangs on the wall in the function room.

After the accident, there were days he doubted he could continue to fight for his life, so he got someone to make him a plywood coffin, he said.

His wife Kathryn had made him move the coffin from the living room to a shed outside.

Im organised - Im ready to go - but if any cheeky bugger wants it, Ill offer it to them.

SHAWN.MCAVINUE@alliedpress.co.nz

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Clearing sale to stop temptation to work - Otago Daily Times

The Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, has announced the following relative to Part 10 Environmental Assessment of the Environmental Protection Act.

UNDERTAKING REGISTERED:

Springdale Glove Manufacturing Facility (Reg. 2218)Proponent: Superior Gloves

The proponent proposes the construction and operation of a glove manufacturing facility on a 16,250 square metre site in the Town of Springdale Industrial Park, located off Route 390. The manufacturing building would be a 2,400 square metre structure made of pre-engineered steel on a reinforced concrete foundation. A description of the project can be found on the departments webpage at: http://www.gov.nl.ca/eccm/env-assessment/projects-list/.

The undertaking was registered on September 16, 2022; the deadline for public comments is October 26, 2022; and the ministers decision is due by October 31, 2022.

Environmental Preview Report Required:Deer Lake Dairy Secondary Processing Facility (Reg. 2203)Proponent: The Real Dairy Company of Newfoundland Inc.

The minister has advised the proponent that an environmental preview report (EPR) is required for this project. Additional information is needed to inform the minister of the following, including, but not limited to: a Wastewater Management Plan which demonstrates how industrial wastewater effluent will comply withthe Environmental Control Water and Sewer Regulations; a Waste Management Plan that identifies the management of all potential waste streams generated at the facility; a Contingency Plan that identifies disposal options in the event that these waste streams cannot be fully utilized, and a plan for the quick and effective response to a spill event.

An Environmental Assessment Committee (EAC) has been appointed to provide scientific and technical advice to the minister and to draft guidelines for the proponent for preparation of the EPR. The EAC includes representatives from the following provincial government departments and agencies:

UNDERTAKINGS RELEASED:

Holyrood Pond RV & Day Park (Reg. 2205)Proponent: Frank Tobin and Rennie Tobin

Carmanville New Pond Cabins ATV Trail (Reg. 2186)Proponent: Wayne Hicks

The project was released subject to the following conditions:

Learn moreEnvironmental Assessment DivisionDepartment of Environment and Climate ChangeWest Block, Confederation BuildingP.O. Box 8700, St. Johns, NL A1B 4J6

Public comments may be forwarded to: EAprojectcomments@gov.nl.ca

Environmental assessment information is available at:

http://www.gov.nl.ca/ecc/env-assessment/

http://www.gov.nl.ca/ecc/files/GUIDE-TO-THE-PROCESS_Dec2021

Follow us on Twitter: @GovNL and @ECC_GovNL

If you submit comments on a project that is under environmental assessment, please advise the Department if you DO NOT wish to share your comments with the project proponent.

Media contactLynn RobinsonEnvironment and Climate Change709-729-5449, 691-9466lynnrobinson@gov.nl.ca

2022 09 213:45 pm

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Environmental Assessment Bulletin - News Releases - Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

A New York State Senator representing portion of CNY and the North County is pulling no punches over Kirsten Gillibrand's plan to send undocumented migrants in New York City to upstate communities.

Reacting to a recent news article in the NY Post in which U.S. Senator Gillibrand said relocating migrants upstate would help upstate cities qualify for additional federal money, NY Senator Joe Griffo says fooey.

The Upstate Republican released a statement saying he believes the plan is another example of Gillibrand being more concerned about her own future than the communities she represents.

Photo Credit: WIBX/TSM

There she goes again. After trying to steal a federal judgeship from Utica and the Mohawk Valley, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is again not paying attention to the needs and concerns of the upstate communities she supposedly represents in Congress," Griffo said.

"I recognize the role played by migrant workers who have come here in accordance with established immigration protocols and the effect that they have on the states agriculture industry. Additionally, upstate communities have demonstrated a willingness and interest in welcoming and integrating legal refugees and immigrants. However, Sen. Gillibrands proposal to ship immigrants who have crossed the border illegally to these communities is disingenuous. Lets call it was it really is: A political ploy by an individual who is more concerned about her political future than the futures of upstate communities," he said.

Sen. Gillibrand And Rep. Cohen Discuss Regulations That Aim To Make Semi-Trailer Safer In Accidents

Griffo continued, "Longstanding immigration issues that have challenged many administrations and Congresses must be addressed at the federal level. Sen. Gillibrand and her colleagues are in a position to create policies to remedy this problem. Its time for Sen. Gillibrand to do her job and resolve these issues as opposed to forcing already struggling communities to deal with another challenge.

The issue of undocumented migrants flooding into the U.S. has become a hot topic of late with Republican governors shipping bus loads of migrants to Democrat-run sanctuary cities.

In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams has been said nearly two dozens emergency shelters have opened to address the influx of those fleeing South America. Adams has even floated the idea of housing the growing number of migrants on cruise ships, the Washington Post reports.

With ever growing options for jobs in Utica, Rome, Central New York, and the Mohawk Valley, what are the most popular jobs? With that, what is the pay?

We wanted to highlight the Top 25 jobs in our region:

Depending on your current employment goals, these may be jobs to avoid in the Utica and Rome area of New York State. They are in order from the highest paying of the group, to the absolute lowest.

What would you like to see move into the former Boil Shack location in New Hartford on Seneca Turnkpike?

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NY Lawmaker Slams Gillibrand: 'There She Goes Again' - WIBX AM 950

Decks are a great selling point since they give additional outdoor living space. When looking for eco-friendly renovation options that give you an excellent ROI, replacing your wood deck with composite wood is a smart choice. According to Seiffert Building Supplies, a new composite deck often increases property value by up to 70%. So, how is composite material different than wood? Gambrick explains that composite wood is a material that binds several other materials together, such as pieces of wood, sawdust, and other fibers for a strong, engineered result. It creates a decking material that's maintenance-free and long-lasting.

Another bonus is the low maintenance. No sanding, staining, painting, or sealing of the deck year after year. That in itself is a cost savings. On top of that, many composite materials used in decking are made from recycled materials, which makes them eco-friendly, per Advance, Inc. Time and cost savings, appealing to buyers, an increase in property value, and environmental friendliness all make composite wood decks well worth it.

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Eco-Friendly Home Renovations That Give You Top ROI - House Digest

Dutch aerospace engineer Olaf de Swart wanted to work in renewable energy after graduating from the Delft University of Technology in 2009 with a specialty in flexible solar modules, but the Great Financial Crisis had other plans. After the Lehman Brothers crash, the only job he could find was as a project engineer at Damen Shipyards. Shipbuilding was one of the few industries not paralyzed by the financial collapse. Though his passion was elsewhere, he took the gig.

Even as he worked on ships, de Swart never stopped thinking about energy. At the time, offshore floating windmills and tidal energy structures were starting to crop up. The cost of solar energy was still high but starting to come down. I saw that solar energy had nothing holding it back to become the cheapest energy source on the planet, he says. Five years into his Damen job, de Swart asked a question that fused his scientific passion and everyday work: Why cant we put this on the sea?

De Swart received a small budget from Damen in 2017 to investigate his idea, but when he applied for it to be as part of Damens innovation programcode-named Morpheusin 2018, the shipbuilder passed on developing offshore solar panels in-house since the concept was outside its core business and could compete with its energy industry clients. Damens decision motivated de Swart and several Damen colleagues to launch their own offshore floating solar energy park business called SolarDuck.

Today, the startup is partnering with German energy firm RWE to build a pilot floating photovoltaic (FPV) plant that will open in the Belgian North Sea next year. The plant will be one of the first truly high-wave offshore plants and the first to use a unique triangular design that should help it weather heavy seasone of the great obstacles to offshore solar installations.

The 0.5 Megawatt peak (or MWp, a measure of the maximum potential power output) pilot project will mark a major step in proving that offshore solar farms can provide reliable and cheap energy for land-scarce countries in Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean. (SolarDuck declined to reveal the projects cost; RWE will invest in the project, the German firm says.)

We focus on countries which dont have the space to build solar on a large scale, so they cannot profit from the low electricity prices that solar energy can bring, says de Swart. And in these countries, if you look at where most of the population is located, its in what we call the sunbelt region around the equator.

Fossil fuel-triggered climate change and the energy crisis caused by Russias invasion of Ukraine have underscored the need for more creative renewable energy generation. The question is whether offshore floating solar parks can move from the theoretical to the efficient and useful.

For legitimate reasons, renewable energy analysts have doubts.

Offshore floating PV is unlikely to take off mainly because it is a tougher environment with challenges related to salt water, waves, tidal level changes, and seasonal typhoons, says Victor Signes, a renewable energy analyst at Rystad Energy.

But the difficulty of finding apt sites for renewable energy in mountainous or thickly populated countries like Japan, and in isolated island and costal nations, like those in the Caribbean, makes the idea of offshore solar parks an attractive entrepreneurial endeavor.

If well be able to take that out to sea, that will open a whole new frontier, says Koen Burgers, a former Damen executive who left the shipbuilder to become the startups CEO.

Investors are betting that the Dutch-Norwegian SolarDuck can make offshore solar work. It raised a $4 million round earlier this year, and its investors include Damen, Link Venture Capital and the Norwegian accelerator Katapult Ocean. Burgers declined to disclose the companys valuation.

Floating solar parks began to pop up about 15 years ago and have grown steadily since, mainly on inland bodies of watereither lakes or reservoirswith hydroelectric dams that are already hooked up to the grid.

Floating solar has seen strong growth over the past three to five years [and] has the potential to become the third pillar of the photovoltaic industry, next to ground-mounted and rooftop solar, says Thomas Reindl, deputy CEO of the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS). Just covering 10% of all man-made reservoirs in the world would lead to installation capacities in the range of around 20 terawatts, which is 20 times more than the global cumulative installed solar photovoltaic capacity today.

Floating solar panels offer three main advantages, says Signes from Rystad. First, the solar panels are more efficient because the water below keeps them cool. Second, it is easier to get permits for already artificialized areas, like spent quarries hydroelectric dams, in part because there are few NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) objections from local residents. And third, mixing floating solar plants with existing wind and hydroelectric plants achieves economies of scale in terms of infrastructure costs.

Globally, floating solars installed capacity is expected to hit 24 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, growing from 2.7 GW at the end of the first half of 2022, mainly led by Asia, according to Rystad. Its potential is far greater: the U.S. Department of Energys National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates that adding floating solar power to existing hydropower reservoirs could supply almost half of current global electricity demand.

SolarDucks founders started working on the company from within Damen Shipyards, but de Swart and SolarDuck engineering head Ewoud Huiskamp left in 2019 and spun out the company in mid-2020. De Swarts supervisor Don Hoogendoorn, now SolarDucks CTO, and Burgers left Damen and joined full-time in 2021.

The founders designed triangular solar panel platforms with semi-submergible floats that when linked togethersix triangular platforms joined at their apex form a hexagonwould be more flexible and have more axes on which to rotate than the usual rectangular variety, and thus be better suited to heavy waves and ocean currents. Signes says the design offers higher stability. RWE, the German utility working with SolarDuck on the pilot, says the North Sea solar farm will float several meters above the water, following the waves like a carpet.

SolarDuck CEO Burgers says the floating platformsthe triangles are more than 30 meters a sideare being designed to withstand waves that reach 14 meters in height. By comparison, in 2020, the worlds first high-wave offshore solar project, from Oceans of Energy, was praised for riding out 5-meter waves. That project has since endured 10-meter waves and it designed to face up to 14-meter ones, the company says.

SolarDuck and RWEs North Sea pilot installationcomprised of six triangles joined into one hexagonis slated to open next April with a capacity of 0.5 MWp. For their next step, the two companies plan to connect a SolarDuck offshore 5 MWp floating solar plantmade of some 70 trianglesto a RWE wind farm that the utility is bidding to build 53 kilometers off the Dutch coast. Mixing the two energy sources is attractive for future installations because wind and solar are complementary, says Evan Rosenlieb, an NREL technical lead on floating solar work. It tends to be windier at night.

The 5 MWp floating plant would be larger than any high-wave offshore farms that currently exists, though Oceans of Energy plans to scale up to 15 MW in its next round of growth. The largest installed offshore floating solar project to date is a 181 MWp farm near Taiwan, but it is in a sheltered near-shore location.

Floating PV enables the expansion of renewable energies without the use of additional land and that is in our particular interest. Particularly in combination with an offshore windfarm, said an RWE spokesperson.

De Swart says SolarDuck has also received interest from groups in Bermuda, Malaysia, and Japan, and expects to sign two more contracts this year.

For SolarDucks Burgers, the doubts about the cost-effectiveness of offshore solar are understandablebut hes confident solar can overcome those doubts like wind has.

Wind was taken offshore 20 or 25 years ago and people thought it would be too expensive, he says. Now they are subsidy-free.

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A Dutch-Norwegian startup wants to open a whole new frontier of renewable energy with solar farms that float on the oceans surface - Fortune

A trio of skaters who connected during the pandemic are inviting fellow eight-wheelers to roll into the night with them this Saturday.

Golda Ferrer, Signy Thorsteinson and Jill Munro, collectively known as the Skate Sisters, are the brains behind IllumiSkate the Night, an outdoor, disco-inspired roller rink making its debut at this years Nuit Blanche, the annual free night of art exploration held as part of Culture Days.

For one night only, a car park in the East Exchange will be transformed into a 70s-esque roller rink, complete with disco lights and retro music.

This is a dream we are making come true, Ferrer says. Winnipeg doesnt have an outdoor roller rink and for one night we are doing just that.

Kicking off at 6 p.m., IllumiSkate promises a night full of thrills and maybe some spills as everyone is invited to join in, as long as they bring their skates.

For Ferrer and her skate sisters, the hobby is more than just a way to keep fit; its an art form. She also credits the activity for keeping her sane during the height of COVID-19.

In isolation we were keeping apart from our families, but when we were out skating, we would accidentally run into other skaters, and we could all do this thing together. We would socially distance, wearing masks, and just skate with each other. There was just something about it the freedom we felt in those isolated times, and we still got together to share our common love of skating. And this was the culture that emerged out of it.

Getting the event ready hasnt been easy a small budget, together with a tight turnaround time, has seen everyone pitching in to do their bit.

Ferrer credits the skating community shes part of, Peg City Rollers, for coming together to ensure everything rolls smoothly.

Its been all hands on deck putting the event together, Ferrer explains. We (the Skate Sisters) had the underlying assumption that our community would come in and make this happen.

I think the most notable thing is that, because of a location issue, weve only had nine weeks to plan the event. We also received a $2,000 grant from Nuit Blanche. A lot of our installation relies on our skate-community friends and family support. We were able to borrow and repurpose most things. There is so much artistic talent in the group. We had to get really creative.

We are here to give the Skate Sisters any help they need, says Genie Nizigiyimana, founder of the Peg City Rollers.

There are a lot of members in our group who are more than willing and currently helping them. Its all about community enthusiasm. We want the event to be successful.

Nizigiyimana, who started skating in October 2020, established Peg City Rollers in January of the following year to meet more like-minded people. The group now hosts more than 100 members, although not everyone turns up to all the skate meets.

I started a social media account, and the goal was to find other skaters in Winnipeg to skate with. In May 2021 we had our official skate meet with 10 people, and we have 141 members right now.

People come and go. We have open skate meets and sometimes there are 30 people, sometimes there are five people.

The skaters meet at Sargent Skate Park on Sundays in the warmer months and move to a community centre in winter. Summer events are free but winter events are charged a fee to cover the rent of the indoor location.

Last year it was $50 per person and we had just enough to cover the rent. When there was extra we saved that and this year in March we had a live DJ come in and perform when we skated, Nizigiyimana explains.

Roller skating has a long history in Winnipeg, with its roots in the city going back 140 years. The citys first roller rink, as reported in the Free Press, opened in 1883 at 12 Graham St., now known as Graham Avenue.

The history of skating in the city is something that interests Ferrer, and she has made sure it is a part of the IllumiSkate experience.

We convinced my favourite local building archivist, Christian Cassidy, to write a five-part blog about Winnipegs roller-skate history. Its a key part of our installation, Ferrer says.

Ferrer is expecting between 80 to 100 skaters to turn up at the 70s-inspired roller rink throughout the course of the evening.

Expect to time-travel back to the disco era with disco balls, sparkly drapes and warm lights for this installation, Ferrer says.

For non-skaters, there will also be a Zumba section where spectators can dance the night away.

The installation will have a disco photo booth with a red-carpet walk and a lit-up floor, along with three picture walls two of which attendees will have to spot somewhere in the East Exchange.

av.kitching@winnipegfreepress.com

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Saturday night fever - Winnipeg Free Press

My first indication that Qatar is a country unlike any other is the herd of metallic oryxes that greets me in the arrivals hall at Dohas Hamad International Airport. Designed by Dutch sculptor Tom Claassen, its one of a dozen world-class artworks scattered throughout the terminal. But it isnt until Im standing at the paws of a 23-foot-tall pineapple-yellow teddy bear with a glowing lamp for a head the eerily brilliant work of Swiss artist Urs Fischer that I really start to wonder: Is this an airport or an art museum? The answer is both.

Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums and sister of the ruling emir, is one of the most powerful art buyers in the world. Her taste influences everything in this oil-rich nation. The royal family set a record when it paid a whopping $6.8 million for Fischers 20-ton teddy, but thats chump change for a monarchy determined to transform its sliver of the Arabian Peninsula into a cultural polestar. Those strapping bronze oryxes? Theyre just an amuse-bouche for the aesthetic feast thats to come.

Photography provided by 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum

Qatar has been on a spending spree ever since it landed its bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with more than a million visitors expected to descend upon the capital city come November. The frenzied expansion includes luxe hotels, shiny stadiums, and a slew of new and revitalized museums. Cranes are a staple on the skyline which is so iconic now that it rivals Manhattan and Hong Kong. Even my Sri Lankan taxi driver, who has lived here on and off for six years, says he gets lost because the city changes so quickly.

Im in town for the ribbon cutting of the new 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, which is timed to the World Cup draw. Drafted by Catalan architect Joan Sibina, its one of the largest sports museums on the planet and the first Arab institution to join the Olympic Museums Network. Its sprawling galleries trace the global history of sport, from Roman charioteers to Jamaican bobsledders, and showcase every Olympic torch from the 1936 games onward. I spend an hour strolling through the Hall of Athletes, taking in the stories of both icons (Babe Ruth, Tom Brady) and trailblazers (Japanese Paralympic swimmer Mayumi Narita).

The National Museum of Qatar, the brainchild of Pritzker Prize winner Jean Nouvel, is another recent addition that stops me dead in my tracks. Circling its exterior, Im captivated by the buildings curvaceous interlocking discs, said to be inspired by the crystallized petals of the desert rose. I find the collection inside even more striking especially the Pearl Carpet of Baroda, a 19th century rug embellished with more than 1.5 million pearls, diamonds, emeralds and sapphires. By the time I plunge into the rabbit hole that is Pipilotti Rists hallucinogenic Your Brain to Me, My Brain to You, the Swiss creatives first site-specific installation in the Middle East, Ive become officially entranced by these superlative museums.

But my checklist of must-sees doesnt end there. Word has it Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas is so in love with his work at the Qatar National Library that he visits monthly. I see why as soon as I set foot in its soaring all-white interior. More than 400,000 books are shelved in a tiered lobby, while a maze of earthy Iranian marble displays collectible manuscripts. A tour typically takes three hours, but I have just one, most of which I spend scooping my jaw up off the floor.

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Im equally impressed with I.M. Peis Museum of Islamic Art, which rises like a cubist wedding cake out of the jade-hued Arabian Gulf. Slated to reopen shortly before the World Cup, its been undergoing a reimagining for the past 18 months. I sneak into the multistory lobby for a quick look and risk fainting like a Victorian duchess while taking in its glory.

In between museum hopping, I make the rounds to headlining shows at flagship galleries, including a haute couture Christian Dior retrospective at fashion incubator M7. I nosh on luscious halvah ice cream at contemporary Qatari eatery Saasna and get a behind-the-scenes tour of Culture Pass Club, the countrys first members-only arts club. Situated in a suite of 14 townhouses decorated by Diane von Furstenberg, India Mahdavi and other design luminaries, its the kind of place where VIP creatives go to hobnob and rest their heads.

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Most enjoyably, I wander the back alleys of Souq Waqif, a shopping bazaar built on the site of a century-old trading market. My curiosity leads me to a row of Oudh vendors, hand-blown perfume bottles cluttering their shelves, and to spice shops selling mountains of pistachios and dried figs. I shuffle past men puffing clouds of fragrant shisha and women in niqabs ladling out batter for Nutella crepes. In the chaos of it all, I find more art: a giant severed thumb painted gold. One of the best-known sculptures by late French Nouveau Ralisme pioneer Csar Baldaccini, it stands out in the bustling market like, well, a sore thumb.

This high/low mix seems strange at first, but incongruity is a theme here. Women cover themselves head-to-toe in black abayas, for instance, but their hands are adorned with rare jewels and designer handbags. Bentleys and Lamborghinis idle at stoplights, driven by men dressed in princely thobes and gutras, while dust-caked laborers toil in the blazing sun just beyond the windshield. I quickly come to realize that Dohas mind-boggling growth wouldnt be possible without the migrant workers who grind away in the shadows, hammering the rafters of half-erect stadiums and delivering mint lemonades to poolside terraces. Most of these laborers come from Southeast Asia, and more than 6,000 of them have died in the citys breakneck race to World Cup dominance a distressing fact that any visitor marveling at these vertigo-inducing skyscrapers must grapple with.

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In that way, Im grateful to escape the city. Paradoxically, the most memorable experience I have in Qatar happens in the middle-of-nowhere desert. After bouncing around in the back of a 4WD past gypsum plateaus and Duneesque scrubbiness, I happen upon the holy grail: four steel slats some 170 feet tall standing upright in the ecru-colored sand.

East-West/West-East is the work of minimalist American sculptor Richard Serra. He named it this because viewers are supposed to start on one end, walk a kilometer east, then whirl around and walk back. I just happen to have timed it perfectly, so Im the only one there as the sun sinks into the horizon, bleeding a tangerine puddle as it goes. Far removed from the glitz and glam of Doha, its just me and the art and we both feel grounded.

Read this article as it appears in the magazine.

Link:
How Qatar Became an Arts and Architecture Hot Spot - Artful Living