Demolishing the Foundation Wharves

 I frequently cover the salvage operations of Foundation Maritime here, but there usually isn't anything new to share. But this month, work continues on the demolition of the old Foundation wharves on the Halifax Waterfront, and I've been following their progress during my occasional days in the office.

The Foundation Company of Canada lot with the Foundation Maritime wharves in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Construction Equipment Company was another subsidiary. At the wharves in the background are Foundation Josephine II (centre) and Foundation Frances beside the salvage shed to the right. 

Viewed from the water side from the air, this is an older image of the Foundation wharves. Beside the salvage shed to the left is the laid up Foundation Franklin, with Foundation Josephine just off Franklin's starboard side at the main wharf, and Foundation Lillian partly hidden on the other side of the main wharf.

One final image taken several years later, with the shed on the main wharf torn down and replaced with an office for Foundation Maritime. Foundation Frances is at left alongside the salvage shed, and possibly Foundation Vera in the centre.

In more recent years, the wharves have been used by Eastern Canada Towing (ECTUG), the successor to Foundation Maritime, and the firm is now owned by Svitzer and the tugs have moved to Mulgrave, NS. Until recently, the Atlantic Pilotage Authority also operated from these wharves, but they have now moved to the former Fader Agencies location near the Macdonald Bridge in Dartmouth. With the wharves now rather decrepit and the property itself is now owned by Develop Nova Scotia, the wharves are being removed to allow for further development. McNally has been hired to carry out the work, and their crane barge Canadian Argosy arrived in September.

The crane barge Canadian Argosy under tow by the small tug Oshawa on her way to the Foundation wharves. 

Canadian Argosy alongside in the same camber variously inhabited by the tugs Foundation Franklin, Foundation Josephine, and Foundation Frances in the photos above, with the salvage shed to the left (still displaying the remnants of the Svitzer logo).

The sun rising behind the spuds of Canadian Argosy.

Demolition progressing on the old salvage shed.

Canadian Argosy serves as the platform for a large crawler crane, of the type you would normally see on land. It is firmly lashed to the deck of the barge.

Looking out towards the partially demolished Salvage Shed.

A view with the Salvage Shed now gone (to the right), but with the old office building still standing.

Demolition has yet to begin in this image of the main wharf.

The Salvage Shed is gone, and the wharf it was on is now being removed - pile by pile.

Now the office building is gone from the main wharf.

The piles are the remnants of the Salvage Wharf.

This area is slated to become the new home for an arts district centered on the new Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, and there is a rendering on the AGNS website here (although it still shows the main wharf in place, and doesn't show much in the way of the development intention for the wharf area itself). 

One hopes that the new developments pay homage in some manner to the history associated with these wharves.