Bayham Won't Dredge But..

The Elgin Military Museum will!  Some Blogsters and other scribblers have called the project dead, but far from it, the municipality has agreed to sell the 4 acre parcel of harbourfront land  to the Museum for a nominal $2. In exchange, the museum will take on the dredging costs.  Probably a better long term deal for the museum than the alternative..

Details here "The Municipality of Bayham has confirmed  that an Agreement of Purchase and Sale for the property designated as the HMCS Ojibwa Submarine Museum site in Port Burwell has been completed. The sale is expected to close Aug 12, 2011, paving the way for the release of the vessel by the Dept of National Defense"

The Project is shovel ready and the transfer is the next step forward for, and the most crucial, allowing construction to begin. 

We still await the final release of OJIBWA, but we believe that will be forthcoming very soon.  DND is clearing the waterfront of all retired "O" boats, with the former HMS Olympus arriving at the scrapyard in Port Maitland as you read this.  Next to go will be Okanagan , early in August and Ojibwa will be brought to Hamilton at the end of the season to have cradles fitted in Hamilton Ontario.

Will post more information as it becomes available.

Project Engineering Team inspects Site

Yesterday the entire team including BMT, Heddle Marine, Mammoet, Rylett Engineering, Elgin Military Museum and reps from Bayham council met to review progress, iron out issues and inspect the site. Those who hadn't seen the layout were very impressed with the physical site and all agreed we had a chosen an outstanding  location for this project.

Close inspection by Mammoet and Rylett resulted in a consensus that  there are no major obstacles to overcome in the barge to shore transfer, other than the lack of apparent progress on dredging the harbour.

Bayham council may be having some hope that another landing alternative might be less expensive.  No such luck there, as a study of the concept pointed out the alternative suggested would be at least as costly and infinitely more risky.

So over to you Bayham Council.  We await your speedy decision

Dredging still Uncertain

It seems a poorly worded newspaper article let us to believe the dredging decision had been made.  Maybe not so! Council merely OK's the dredging study.  So we need to apologize for getting hopes up too high.  We'll keep you posted as things progress.  The drop-dead date for a decision is fast approaching

Let the party begin!!

We're feeling so good we're having a party at Port Burwell Saturday May 14th  Join us!
For complete information visit us at:
http://projectojibwa.ca/you-can-help/navy-bluesfest.aspx

Bayham Moves Ahead on Dredging Harbour

Just announced.   Bayham will acquire their own dredging equipment and make the depth we need to get Ojibwa alongside the harbour in Port Burwell and re-open the harbour to pleasure boats.  Not only that, by owning the equipment they will keep the harbour open and help other communities on the South Coast do the same!  

This is a great step forward in moving our project and a tremendous day for Port Burwell.It's also the beginning of the renaissance of Port Burwell as a recreational/boating centre.    It seems Bayham residents have the good fortune to have elected a council that knows how to do the right thing!! 

A Big Week Ahead

On the agenda: conferences with DND to work out final terms for the release of Ojibwa and CAF to discuss finalization of the contribution agreement.  Look for major news to begin flowing after these events .  Corporate fundraising campaign is now rolling out and plans for a full day "Blues Fest"  in Port Burwell May 14th are in the works.  Stay tuned to this station for more details!!

Update

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