Ship of Theseus and the old Copenhagen Stock Exchange

[Valka D'Ur]

To me that sounds like being proactive in a good way about what it historic. Two hundred years from now, will Francis the Pig be something considered a key part of local history? Who knows, but perhaps so, and because of the investment in preserving the historical record now, that will be possible if so. I for one appreciate the local historical signage in the old part of the suburb I live in, detailing the history of various buildings and the people associated with them; it gives a connection to the past, and explains some things that otherwise seem like oddities, such as why the town has what appears to be a geographically inaccurate name.

This is the statue of Francis the Pig:

And this is Keith Mann, the musician I mentioned. It's hard to find a decent photo of his statue, so I snagged a screenshot from a YT video. His statue is in City Hall Park. He used to be holding a conductor's baton in one hand, but people kept breaking it off. Finally the artist got fed up with repairing it, so they've decided to omit the baton.

I remember sitting across from him at a production party following the final performance of "The Sound of Music" (in 1982). He said that he really wished Central Alberta Theatre would do a production of "Paint Your Wagon" as he'd love to conduct the orchestra for that.

Sadly, CAT never did do that musical. I'd have loved to work on it - it's about the California gold rush, and has some spectacular music in it.

In another 'sadly'... the person who narrated the short video about Keith Mann was Michael Dawe, who ran the Museum & Archives. He died recently, and I suspect that due to his incredible knowledge of the history of Red Deer and his service to the museum and city council, he will likely become one of the future ghost statues.

 

[Snowygerry]

You mean the Gravensteen, my favourite castle? I've been to Gent twice, it's my favourite city in Belgium. The castle, the walkability, the occasional bus for the less walkable areas, the rivers, the architecture, and the food - it's everything I imagined Belgium would be, and much better than Brussels. Maybe I've idealized it a bit as I was only there for a day on each visit so I didn't have much time to see the downsides, but I had no idea that Gravensteen had be extensively remodeled.

It certainly looks like a plausible medieval castle that was exceptionally well-preserved, now I learn that it had some help along the way. I suppose in the end, so long as it's a truthful recreation, I don't see a problem with it. Though they certainly weren't advertising the refurbishment to the tourists on the day I was there!

Yes, the people that restored it in 1913 did a great job, they were not charlatans or idiots, they were historians and archaeologists like us, they went through considerable effort and cost to consult sources and acquire the correct materials, the lower parts of the donjon were excavated rather than rebuilt,

but in the end they made an arbitrary decision to restore it to how it may well have looked in 1113, not in 1413 (too costly) or 913 (not impressive enough) and certainly not 1813 (almost gone).

There is a permanent exhibition inside that documents the various states of the castle over time, but most visitors are too distracted by the views or dungeons and torture chambers to notice.

Glad you liked it

 

[amadeus]

The Tank Museum in Bovington, England also has the same problem as the old railroad engines: they want to preserve their vehicles, but there’s also the value to us in seeing those relics run. I tend to think in most cases a faithful reproduction is a happy medium between wearing them out and possibly permanently damaging them and having something to run for the public.

 

[EvaDK]

There were plenty of castles made of wood; they just didn't survive being exposed to the elements since wood is an organic material. Stone castles will be standing for thousands of years.

 

[innonimatu]

I would think (hope!) that few people would be purists with regards to non-aesthetic elements like safe electrical wiring. If they are, they should start at home and disconnect themselves from the power grid and municipal water supply.

Depends on the function. For a building in use it may make sense to rebuilt just the looks of the old. But even so it would depend on the use: does the use prevent a reconstruction true to the original materials? Notre Dame is not being rebuilt with steel frames in the roof, and for good reason.

 

[danjuno]

The Tank Museum in Bovington, England also has the same problem as the old railroad engines: they want to preserve their vehicles, but there’s also the value to us in seeing those relics run. I tend to think in most cases a faithful reproduction is a happy medium between wearing them out and possibly permanently damaging them and having something to run for the public.

This is something I thought about after the wreck between a P-63 and a B-17 at an airshow in Texas a few years back. It wasn't the first loss of a preserved Fortress. That said, land vehicles like trains don't face the same risks and planes or ships, since falling out of the sky or sinking to the bottom is basically guaranteed destruction, contrasted with fender benders like N&W 475's at Strausburg where it got its smoke-box punched in by an excavator's arm and was back in service in a week.

 

[Paul in Saudi]

(I am back.)

When the French said they were going to rebuild Notre Dame exactly, with the same ancient materials, I was disappointed. The fire seemed a fine opportunity for our generation to leave our own mark on the work of our ancestors. (The spire would have made a great overlook for the tourists.) But rebuilding as before had the great advantage of speed. They wanted it done in time for the Olympics. At a stroke the time needed for debate over a modernization was eliminated. They could get to work more quickly because the design was already set.

So I can see both sides of it.

I wonder if the old stock exchange survived the last century's fighting. If it is already a modern reconstruction that is one thing. If it is a rare survivor then that is another.

 

[amadeus]

Denmark held out 16 times longer than Zanzibar, so that’s a start.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Denmark held out 16 times longer than Zanzibar, so that’s a start.

Reference please.

 

[amadeus]

Reference please.

Anglo-Zanzibar War - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

edit: hey you were there too! Maybe you saw some of the battlegrounds without knowing it.