A3

BY BILL CLARKE

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

DALHOUSIE - Many of the questions about a proposal to build condominiums near Bon Ami Point in Dalhousie were answered on May 6 when the proponents, Mathieu Audet and Marie-Claire Valois, held a launch at a local hotel.

1 of 2

Bill Clarke/Tribune

Marie-Claude Valois and Mathieu Audet

They plan to build 30 units evenly divided between two similar and adjoining buildings. Audet said that while designing the structures, architects had taken into consideration things like the prevailing east winds.

The buildings will be largely heated by geothermal energy and heat pumps, resulting in a 75 per cent saving compared to baseboard heaters. There will be extra security and roofs will be above code. Audet said that they plan "eco-friendly" buildings.

The buildings will be set back a considerable distance from the shore. Entrances will be on the side away from the water, but all units will have balconies — a few will have two. Audet said that the views of the bay will be visible from all parts of the units except the bathrooms.

Prices will start at $199,000. Pauline LeBlanc-Furlong is the sales director.

But those who hoped for immediate construction will have to wait a while. Audet said that they will break ground when presales reach a satisfactory level, hopefully in June 2009.

The project brings back the original spelling of what are now known as the Bon Ami Rocks. They'll be called the Bonamy Rocks Condos (Condos Les Rochers Bonamy in French).

The name originates with the man considered Dalhousie's first European settler, Peter Bonamy, a native of the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel, who established a dwelling on the point shortly before 1788. The Bon Ami Rocks are named after him, albeit in a corrupted form of his surname.