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A few days ago, UrbanToronto joined the Urban Land Institute (ULI) on a tour of Downtown Hamilton, exploring a city in transition between two ways of being. While the workers and machines of heavy manufacturing have long departed the city centre, yet expansive industrial infrastructure remains, now beginning to house an influx of new residents and professionals.
The architectural bones—if not the bustle—of industry are still there, and, perhaps surprisingly, they have become one of Hamilton's economic strengths. Today, many of the city's most attractive residential and commercial properties are housed within the reincarnated vestiges of industry.
Old buildings—which, in previous decades might have been seen as relics of economic failure or monuments to lost prosperity—are no longer considered wasted space, fit only to be demolished and paved over. Instead, Hamilton's industrial architecture is increasingly coming to embody the city's heritage. Heritage, though, entails not only preserving the past, but also fostering a lasting and dynamic future. As Christopher Hume wrote in the Toronto Star, "[t]here are two types of heritage, let's not forget: one we inherit; the other we bequeath." For Hamilton, honouring the city's heritage also comes with the task of shaping the future.
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Our tour began at the Royal Connaught (above), a grand Edwardian hotel now in the midst of renovation and expansion —with two condominium towers being added—following its closure, after years of financial struggle, in 2004. Previously subject to Harry Stinson's eccentric proposal for a 100 storey-addition—making it the tallest building in the country—in 2009, the Royal Connaught (which we will profile in greater detail tomorrow) is now well on its way to becoming a central landmark of a re-invigorated Hamilton.
A short walk from the Royal Connaught, the tour continued at Radius, a downtown restaurant and craft cocktail bar—housed in a converted heritage building—devoted to serving locally-sourced food with a cosmopolitan panache. For all of Hamilton's cultural revival, owner Paven Bratch stressed the strong connection maintained to history and local culture through architectural preservation and locally-sourced cuisine.
The tour continued along James Street South, where signs of the city's cultural and economic revival were encouragingly abundant. We pass the striking site of the The Connolly Condominiums, which is set to incorporate the retained facade of the James Street Baptist Church in the lobby.
A provocative interplay between the old and new is evident, with the preservation of a heritage facade occurring in symbiosis with the construction a 30-storey condominium. The forces that preserve and invigorate relics of the past also serve to incorporate them into the city's urban future.
Continuing north on James Street, we pass through a neighborhood becoming notable for its monthly Art Crawl, which brings local galleries and business together for a street crawl on the second Friday of every month.
Art Crawl founder Tim Potocic (above) stressed the importance of continued community engagement as the city evolves, with September's SuperCrawl event now expanding the monthly event series with an annual focal point.
Moving north on James Street, a myriad of construction and preservation projects could be seen underway, with commercial and residential projects revitalizing (and adding to) many of the city's heritage properties.
Turning from James Street onto King William Street, further signs of the city's revitalization abound, with a number of projects underway, and some already complete. Steve Kulakowski of Core Urban Inc pointed to the success of the Empire Times Building (below, right), which now houses the FirstOntario Credit Union as well as a number of other local businesses.
Meanwhile, directly across the street, another significant project was under construction, with Core Urban Inc.'s Templar Flats (below) soon to add new apartment housing to a row of restored buildings. With downtown Hamilton becoming an attractive destination for creative industries, many previously derelict buildings along King William Street are finding a second life as offices and apartments.
The tour was rounded out by a visit to The Seedworks, a former warehouse (close to James Street North) converted into rental, co-working office space occupied by designers, architects, and other creative industries. David Premi of architectural company dp.Ai spoke about the success of the project (below), which took advantage of the airy, light-filled industrial space of the building to create an inviting, open-office layout inside.
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Over the coming days, we will continue to chronicle our visit to Hamilton with ULI, with a profile of the new Royal Connaught upcoming. Our trip culminated with a visit to the Cannon Knitting Mills factory building, where we were treated to a sneak peek at a large industrial property that has seen recently a great deal of interest for re-development.
We will continue our coverage with pictures and renderings that offer a glimpse into the Hamilton of the future, as the Hamilton of today continues its historic transformation. We are lucky that the buildings still stand, though the challenge now is not to merely keep them standing, but to find new life for them in a city no longer called Steeltown.
