[DC83]

I LOVE Mustapha's Toronto: Then & Now collection.

Unfortunately, Hamilton doesn't have an Online Photo Archive like Toronto's (that I know of, anyway), so I'm working with the few online Photos I have found.

 

[DC83]

All 'Before' Photos were taken from skyscraperpage.com's Hamilton Local: Old Photos Section, posted by Stuckinexeter.

All 'Now' photos are from GoogleMaps Streetview:



Main & Ottawa St, looking East

THEN:

NOW:

Ferguson Ave at Rebecca, looking North

THEN:

NOW:

 

[DC83]

King St E & Catherine St, looking West towards Gore Park

THEN:

NOW:

 

[Mustapha]

Well, that series was a train wreck

Seriously, nice series, and why was that building removed from the middle of King Street?

 

[DC83]

Seriously, nice series, and why was that building removed from the middle of King Street?

Hey Mustapha! Thanks! If only I had the time to go around and actually Shoot some 'NOW' shots

That was originally the Bank of Hamilton Building, which was changed to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) Bldg. It wasn't removed, but rather replaced with that blue-glass CIBC Tower in the NOW shot.
EDIT: I should add that it is not in the 'middle' of King St, but rather inBETWEEN the two King St's in the Core! HAHAHA
It's on James, between King St E & GORE PARK King St E... if that makes sense?
GoogleMap: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...383,-79.868409&spn=0.001197,0.003422&t=h&z=19

There was huge controversy when replacing it; NOT regarding Heritage issues, but rather because people were concerned about the glare from the glass panels.

This is CIBC Tower, aka Commerce Court 1

courtesy abrown005 @ http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3161953

Damn Solar Glares *shakes fist* j/k

 

[flar]

Very few of these buildings remain:

photo credit: westlake945 at http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=634402

I wish I had a "now" photo of this.

This is a different angle of the general area, but doesn't really show the most interesting parts (which are west of James St behind the Pigott building):

 

[Long Island Mike]

HAMILTON Then and Now...Good pics!

Everyone: Good start for a Hamilton "Then and Now" with some good pics noted-especially the one of that rather serious train wreck from 1953.
I will be keeping an eye out for more good pics here...LI MIKE

 

[DC83]

Aerial

Awesome Pic, Flar!! 100 Main?


James St S & King St E, looking South towards the Mountain

THEN:

NOW:

 

[DC83]

Sunlife Insurance Building

I didn't even realize until this year that it's crown had been removed?

Does anyone know when this happened?

(the white'ish bldg beside the Gothic Piggot Bldg)

 

[wonderboy416]

Wow that last post is tragic

 

[DC83]

Wow that last post is tragic

Oh Ya! All of these 'Historic Photos' threads are depressing.

But imo, you gotta look into our pasts to see where we went wrong, and how we can fix it.
ie: How most Cities are now reverting back to StreetCar Transit (or LRT now-a-days).

 

[flar]

Landmark Place (Is that 100 Main?)

Oh Ya! All of these 'Historic Photos' threads are depressing.

Not necessarily if there are decent new buildings, but they are really depressing when the historic buildings are replaced with parking lots (or malls).

 

[DC83]

Landmark Place (Is that 100 Main?)




Not necessarily if there are decent new buildings, but they are really depressing when the historic buildings are replaced with parking lots (or malls).

Landmark Place = 100 Main

And you must be referring to something like this:

James St North, looking West towards Market St

THEN:

NOW

Note: The street is gone, as is the Streetwall, and replaced with (what is now) the Hamilton City Centre Mall/City Hall, formerly the Hamilton Eaton Centre.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Cool thread. Compared to the urban renewal that took place in Toronto downtown Hamilton looks like it was taken behind the woodshed and beaten to a pulp in the 1960s.

I remember seeing a photo from the 1950s of the street that York Boulevard replaced. It was a narrow commercial road with a vibrant streetscape that looked kind of like Dundas street or College. Somehow the city fathers managed to demolish the entire length of the street and replace it with a 6-lane highway. They also demolished their historic city hall and, to build their new city hall, took about 6 square blocks of Victorian mansions and razed them to the ground.

 

[Jonny5]

Cool thread. Compared to the urban renewal that took place in Toronto downtown Hamilton looks like it was taken behind the woodshed and beaten to a pulp in the 1960s.

I remember seeing a photo from the 1950s of the street that York Boulevard replaced. It was a narrow commercial road with a vibrant streetscape that looked kind of like Dundas street or College. Somehow the city fathers managed to demolish the entire length of the street and replace it with a 6-lane highway. They also demolished their historic city hall and, to build their new city hall, took about 6 square blocks of Victorian mansions and razed them to the ground.

I believe most of these tradgedies lay at the feet of one Victor Copps, father of Sheila and namesake of Copps Colliseum.

The downtown did remain vibrant into the 80's. I firmly remember as a child going with my mother to Eaton's, Robinson's and Wollworth's for the day. I liked the Eaton's store the best as the had manually operated cage elevators where the clerk would call out what departments were on each floor. Plus the restaurant in the basement made some good grub.

The 90's end to Hamilton's manufacturing sector gutted what was left of the downtown and instead of the city demolishing buildings, they were demolished from neglect. You can thank Bob Morrow's preoccupation with building the Red Hill Expressway for that.