Ikea Roundup: Sunken Barges, Blue-and-Yellow Paint

Since this has somehow turned into one of those days when there is a profusion of information on a specific topic--namely the Red Hook Ikea--we're posting a couple of other interesting tidbits about work at the former Todd Shipyards site:

1) We were curious about the two barges that were reported to have sunk in the Erie Basin at some point over the Thanksgiving weekend. A source noted that the sunken barges were doing work on the removal of a submerged dry dock. No word on why they went down.

2) As part of the agreement that allowed Ikea to demolish historic structures on its property, the retailer documented the demolished buildings and will take steps like noting the outline of the Graving Dock which it filled for parking. It also, one might recall, documented evidence of a previously buried Graving Dock. (The retailer may be using paving stones removed from Beard Street to accomplish the task.) Ikea is preparing "interpretive panels" and other material for display on the "public esplanade" around the parking lot. A source notes: "The bollards and cleats--equipment used by ships for mooring--are being painted IKEA blue and yellow for installation on the esplanade. I fear that it will just be a big billboard rather than a really interpretation of the history we have lost." Ikea also repainted the old shipyard cranes on the site, changing them from blue to gray in the process of giving them some much-needed upkeep. Hopefully, it is not primer for painting them blue and yellow and affixing Ikea logos to them.