May 272014
 

As shown in this official survey dated March 29, 1924, the Bala #2 Generating Station had a footprint of 16′ x 16′ – which is an area of 256 ft² (23.78 m²).

The proponent’s most recent drawing (dated November 28, 2013) shows the foot print of their proposed generating station. Overlaying this official survey from August 30, 1924 provides the image below (click on it for a larger view):

  • The blue lines have been added to highlight the footprint of the proposed generating station
  • The red highlights the survey from 1924. As is labeled, the red square is the Bala #2 Power Station that used to be on the site (from 1924 to 1972). Note how much larger the proposed generating station would be.

Measuring the proponent’s proposed generating station on their 2013 drawing shows the footprint would be 591 m2, which is 25 times the area of the station previously there and more than four times the size of a 5-bedroom house.

This is simply Too Big for Bala.

As can be measured from the scaled survey drawings, the station previously there left 16′ clear to the Crown land property line to the south, so the station did not obstruct the Bala portage – and the Portage path can clearly be seen in the photograph below.

Back to the figure above the photograph above, as shown by the red dashed lines leading from the Bala north channel to the Bala #2 generating station, the intake was buried. As can be seen by the rectangle within the intake towards the Bala north channel, there was an inspection cover over the intake, and the July, 1924 photograph below shows people standing over that intake.

The photograph below is from the Archives of Ontario (Container B117491, Reference C 7-3), and was taken by John Boyd. The associated caption is “At Bala Falls, Muskoka [District], a new power plant is under construction. This diver has to work in the swirling waters – a very dangerous job. Great care is taken by the 3 men who get him into his suit to see that everything is safe.”. The detail in the photograph is fantastic (click for a larger view, press “Ctrl +” to zoom-in). Note the diver’s hat and shoes at the right, and a hammer and pliers above those, and his helmet air-line hose above that. Wood planks in the foreground are the inspection cover over the intake. In the background is the two-storey Carr’s Arcadian Ice Cream Parlour, owned by Katherine (sometimes spelled Catherine) Carr (née Burgess), daughter of Thomas and Margaret Burgess. The huge verandah overlooks the Bala north channel and falls.

The photograph below is also from the Archives of Ontario (photographs from Allan Edward Cuthbertson, Reference F 4564-0-0-0-270, likely taken after 1940), and shows the Bala #2 generating station. Note the wooden utility pole in front of the Bala north dam, this supported the transmission line from the generating station, and the concrete footing for this pole is still there today. The Burgess Memorial Presbyterian Church is to the right, and the land closer is a gentle slope, most suitable for the Portage there. The side railings/supports for the highway bridge over the north channel can be seen past the Bala north dam.

The figure below is a current drawing of the area with an overlay (in red) of most of the August 30, 1924 survey (click for a larger view). It shows the alignment of the previous highway bridge over the north channel relative to the current Muskoka Road 169 bridge. Also, the location of Carr’s Arcadian Ice Cream Parlour is shown as being owned by Katherine Wilkinson Carr.

 

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