[flar]

 

[Jayomatic]

Great shots! There are so many beautiful buildings downtown I'd love to renovate into some great lofts.

Is it true they are tearing down city hall? If so, its quite the loss.

 

[Observer Walt]

Jayomatic, there was some discussion a couple of years ago about tearing down City Hall, but it won't be happening. A major renovation is under way.

There has been some discussion of tearing down the Board of Education building, across the street from City Hall. This discussion is still under way as far as I know. The proposal was to redevelop the block with a new education building combined with a McMaster University building.

 

[Conrad Black]

Great shots! There are so many beautiful buildings downtown I'd love to renovate into some great lofts.

Well Harry has officially made the move to Hamilton so maybe he'll be fixing some of these.

 

[flar]

Just this week the school board took the renovation option off the table, so the education building will most likely be demolished. The city and McMaster have proposed this for the school board site:

City Hall renovations have been halted, and apparently demolition is not off the table. Anything can happen in Hamilton politics.


Stinson has expressed interest in the Lister Block and The Royal Connaught Hotel, but the current owners don't seem interested in selling even though they haven't been able to get anything going and both buildings are rotting away. I expect Lister to be demolished before the year is out.

 

[flar]

For those who aren't familiar with the buildings in question, these are some of the larger endangered buildings downtown:


Royal Connaught:

Lister Block:

Board of Education:

City Hall:

Federal Building, empty, supposed to be condos but nothing happening:

 

[Edward Skira]

All of those buildings should be kept.

 

[ganjavih]

Love the urban grit... almost Yankee style.

 

[Observer Walt]

City Hall renovations have been halted, and apparently demolition is not off the table.

Flar, I had not heard that. It seems hard to believe, after how-much-money has already been spent. Thre is an ongoing problem in Hamilton: the poor quality of political leadership. I had hoped for something better after the last election, with a new mayor in place.

It would be nice, IMO, if the Board of Education headquarters could be kept. But the rest of the block it sits on is currently unattractive, and I know lengthy discussions on this have apparently reached the conclusion that a full redevelopment of the block from the ground up would be best. The block fronts on both King and Main Streets and it would be nice to see it improved, it would be a benefit to both streets.

The Lister Block has certainly been an ongoing story. My impression, observing from a distance, is that it won't be saved. I don't think its configuration would lend itself to residential loft uses, so I guess it either gets reno'd as office space or gets torn down.

As for Harry, good luck to him!! If he can do anything with the Lister Block or the Royal Connaught, I will certainly be the first to raise a toast to him.

 

[flar]

^^I know, the politics in Hamilton are unbelievable.

Councillors revive debate about selling City Hall

Nicole Macintyre
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jan 24, 2008)

Two city councillors want to sell off City Hall.

"Get rid of it," downtown Councillor Bob Bratina proclaimed yesterday.

He joined Councillor Terry Whitehead in suggesting the city cancel the $69-million renovation and stay at its temporary location at the City Centre.

"We need to take a serious look at creative ideas to get value for the taxpayer," said Whitehead.

The idea of selling City Hall, which has been debated several times over the decades, drew eye rolls and sighs from several other councillors. But Bratina and Whitehead argue the idea should be revived, given the city's financial outlook. Taxpayers are facing an 8.2 per cent increase this year.

"I think it's a concept worth revisiting," said Whitehead, noting the proposal could be paired with the Lister Block debate.

The suburbs' former town halls are also a target in budget deliberations. Councillor Brad Clark revived the debate yesterday about closing the municipal centres and renting out the space. Staff plan to report back.

The renovation of Hamilton City Hall is on hold while the city looks for a new architect.

Bratina said he fears the project's cost, which recently jumped from $60 million to $68.8 million, will only soar higher. He'd prefer to hand the land over to a university to create a downtown campus and wait to build a new municipal centre when the city is doing better and downtown has recovered.

Whitehead believes the prime land --which staff estimated would be worth about $2 million -- could be leveraged for a downtown development to generate taxes.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger said he'd want to see substantial council support for the idea before asking staff to develop a business case for the recycled proposal.

"I'm reluctant to get into the debate," he said, noting the renovation was hotly contested just a few months ago. Eisenberger led and lost a fight to tear down the heritage building and build a multipurpose civic centre.

"I'm still worried about the path we are on, but that said, that is the path we're on."

The City Hall renovation debate sprouted from a discussion about the cost of the city's temporary chambers. Council has been holding its meetings at the Convention Centre since the move in the fall. Room rentals and food are expected to cost $107,000 this year. Councillors asked staff to report back on the cost of renting a meeting room in the City Centre mall instead.

 

[CDL.TO]

Thanks for the pics, flar. Amazing as always. A great reminder that Hamilton really is a "real city", only in the shadow of Toronto.

Too bad to hear that the City Hall renos are delayed. I love that building.

Councillors asked staff to report back on the cost of renting a meeting room in the City Centre mall instead.

Never mind Hamilton City Centre Mall... if they really want to save money, why don't they just move to Centre Mall? I'm sure they could get space there for dirt cheap.

 

[flar]

^^The Centre Mall is getting torn down too!
It's being replaced by a big box power centre type thing.

In (possibly) better news, I just heard that the group that currently owns the Royal Connaught has filed for bankruptcy, so hopefully it will be back on the market and someone else can have a go at it.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Thanks flar - so much potential for community revitalization (ok, ok...gentrification).

AoD

 

[adma]

I'm a little surprised that Bratina's hard on City Hall--I always pictured him as a Hamiltonian Adam Vaughan type...

 

[Long Island Mike]

Hamilton has a lively-and interesting-Downtown!

Flar: Good Downtown Hamilton pics! Your pics show how lively Hamilton's Downtown is. Good old and newer architecture are pictured here as well.
Is the Canadian Football Hall of Fame pictured here? I visited there on my 1985 trip. Again-good pics! LI MIKE