Harry Stinson makes news. This weekend the Spec devoted a central chunk of their front page and nearly half of the Weekend Reader section to his efforts to develop the old Royal Connaught. Hamilton’s coverage of the man has been positively beaming, but a quick web search will yield many articles from his last domain – Toronto – which paint the man as a bit of a walking financial disaster. His plans are grandiose, and he definitely has a degree of vision, but as recent history shows, sometimes they’re a little TOO ahead of their time. Development and finance are rough worlds (most of us are getting screwed by them all the time), and need a lot more than vision to run with an idea. So why, weeks after Stinson failed to come up with the $9.5 million needed to buy the old hotel, isn’t anyone more sceptical?
This is not to say that I’m against redeveloping the old HoJo, it’s a beautiful old example of the kind of architecture that makes downtown great, and it isn’t doing anyone any good at the moment. But a 100 storey pyramid? Reminds me of Lewis Mumford’s old bit about pyramids as the rocket ships of their day, elevating a super-privileged elite to the heavens, always, of course, constructed at public expense. This project is a perfect example of what Hamilton doesn’t need to import from Toronto (or, for that matter, Ancient Egypt) – a $300 million dollar eyesore, defining the skyline of Hamilton and housing our richest and most privileged citizens. Maybe soon, like the newly-redeveloped Toronto waterfront we’ll have a whole crop of high-rise mega towers blocking the rest of the city’s view of the lake.
Downtown Hamilton is developed. Overdeveloped in fact. The last few decades of “urban renewal” have devastated it, building more office space than we can use and flattening block after block of homes and small businesses in favour of parking lots and failing corporate malls. Holding out for some dreamy “revitalized downtown” developers have been holding on to some of its biggest properties (the Hojo, Lister Block, Federal Building etc) leaving them rotting and vacant until they see their chance for maximum profit. Concern for those of us who live and work downtown is absent. As one small businessperson told me recently about why they moved from their old location on King East in the core, their building had been bought, and now the new owners had decided to double the rent and start doing renovations on the store while open. From others, I’ve heard tales of terror as their café was bought up and the whole staff let go, expecting and newly single mothers and all.
Democracy – rule by the people, for the people and of the people – ideally means that those people who are affected by decisions are the people who have the most say. Yet all through this, the people in all of these situations – tenants, workers, patrons or just the people who spend the most time enjoying Gore Park and the surrounding streets, have no say at all. If a “revitalized” downtown isn’t going to serve the Portuguese groceries or the families that live above them, then what’s it good for? If downtown as it stands isn’t appealing to suburbanites on the south mountain, then they can stay on the south mountain. They’ve already turned countless acres of farmland into a bland corporate wasteland of strip malls, fast food and suburban death-mazes, they don’t need to ruin downtown too.
This is not to say that I’m against redeveloping the old HoJo, it’s a beautiful old example of the kind of architecture that makes downtown great, and it isn’t doing anyone any good at the moment. But a 100 storey pyramid? Reminds me of Lewis Mumford’s old bit about pyramids as the rocket ships of their day, elevating a super-privileged elite to the heavens, always, of course, constructed at public expense. This project is a perfect example of what Hamilton doesn’t need to import from Toronto (or, for that matter, Ancient Egypt) – a $300 million dollar eyesore, defining the skyline of Hamilton and housing our richest and most privileged citizens. Maybe soon, like the newly-redeveloped Toronto waterfront we’ll have a whole crop of high-rise mega towers blocking the rest of the city’s view of the lake.
Downtown Hamilton is developed. Overdeveloped in fact. The last few decades of “urban renewal” have devastated it, building more office space than we can use and flattening block after block of homes and small businesses in favour of parking lots and failing corporate malls. Holding out for some dreamy “revitalized downtown” developers have been holding on to some of its biggest properties (the Hojo, Lister Block, Federal Building etc) leaving them rotting and vacant until they see their chance for maximum profit. Concern for those of us who live and work downtown is absent. As one small businessperson told me recently about why they moved from their old location on King East in the core, their building had been bought, and now the new owners had decided to double the rent and start doing renovations on the store while open. From others, I’ve heard tales of terror as their café was bought up and the whole staff let go, expecting and newly single mothers and all.
Democracy – rule by the people, for the people and of the people – ideally means that those people who are affected by decisions are the people who have the most say. Yet all through this, the people in all of these situations – tenants, workers, patrons or just the people who spend the most time enjoying Gore Park and the surrounding streets, have no say at all. If a “revitalized” downtown isn’t going to serve the Portuguese groceries or the families that live above them, then what’s it good for? If downtown as it stands isn’t appealing to suburbanites on the south mountain, then they can stay on the south mountain. They’ve already turned countless acres of farmland into a bland corporate wasteland of strip malls, fast food and suburban death-mazes, they don’t need to ruin downtown too.
posted by Undustrial at 12:16 PM
1 Comments:
Ha Ha. Where's our Moses to lead us from bondage to the Hamilton Pharoahs.
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