Redroom Studios
Senior Member
disgusting and sad. Its been a long list of bad news and bad decisions for Brantford. Maybe Wayne Gretzky is having a museum built for himself...
Brantford Colborne Point | ?m | ?s | Vrancor Development
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Hipster Duck
Senior Member
Kind of. Many Brantforders just go to the big box mall in Ancaster to shop. I'm not sure what the history is behind Brantford's downtown and why it was allowed to deteriorate to Gary-like conditions. I might be confusing Brantford for somewhere else, but I think that entire block was once owned by one slumlord before the city expropriated it.
When I lived there, many locals wanted nothing more than to level the whole downtown. It was an embarassment to them and despite the fact that Southern Ontario is full of vibrant little downtowns and cherished historic buildings (including Paris, just down the road), the people I talked to seemed to know of no other remedy than to bring out the wrecking ball. I guess they got their wish.
MisterF
Senior Member
I think people are just shortsighted. They see something work brilliantly in one place, but they don't consider that it could work somewhere else. I get the same questions from people living in Cobourg, with one of the most vibrant downtowns in Ontario, about Trenton, which is pretty much dead. They see how well a downtown in the same area can work but they still think all of downtown Trenton should be demolished.
SunriseChampion
Senior Member
An embarassment in my books would be what they're planning for. To each their own, I guess. No sense of common history. It's pretty sad.....and I'm only a first-generation Canadian. People need their heads checked. In Europe, they regularly do massive renovations of their central towns and cities....here: fuck it, tear it down!
I know I've never been and it won't sound like much but, if this gets wiped, there'll be very little to ever make me want to visit Brantford. Granted, there wasn't much before, but I love the old downtowns of small-town Ontario and am planning a tour with my fiancee this summer of the Erie coast from Caledonia, down and across, all the way to Amherstburg and up to Windsor. Canada needs more manifestations of its history, not less.
I'm cynical enough to wager that it's all down to money.
I know I've never been and it won't sound like much but, if this gets wiped, there'll be very little to ever make me want to visit Brantford. Granted, there wasn't much before, but I love the old downtowns of small-town Ontario and am planning a tour with my fiancee this summer of the Erie coast from Caledonia, down and across, all the way to Amherstburg and up to Windsor. Canada needs more manifestations of its history, not less.
I'm cynical enough to wager that it's all down to money.
matix
New Member
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/714151
Brantford debates bulldozing history
January 29, 2010
PAUL MORSE
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR
BRANTFORD (Jan 29, 2010)
Heritage advocates are begging Telephone City politicians to hold off bulldozing the longest remaining stretch of pre-Confederation architecture in Ontario.
Bids to demolish an expropriated stretch of 40 downtown buildings along the south side of Colborne Street -- over a dozen of which date to the 1840-1866 era -- will be unsealed Monday, with the intent to start demolition within two weeks.
"The south side of Colborne Street has been a blight for 30 years," said Brantford Councillor Mark Littell, head of a city taskforce that recommended razing the three blocks of buildings.
Littell said the YMCA of Hamilton-Burlington-Brantford wants to build an athletics facility for community and postsecondary use on about a third of the site in partnership with Mohawk College, Wilfrid Laurier University and Nipissing University. He expects a gold rush of developers to fight over the prime real estate near the Grand River that would become available.
The YMCA, on behalf of the partnership, applied unsuccessfully last year for federal infrastructure stimulus funding for the $42-million project, said YMCA CEO Jim Commerford.
"We have, through Wilfrid Laurier University, applied for some funding through the federal development agency," he said.
But opponents of the demolition say the city is rushing to the wrecking ball without having studied whether the buildings -- some of which are 170 years old but do not have an official heritage designation -- are structurally salvageable.
"There have been no structural engineers to say they are falling apart," said Jack Jackowetz, chairperson of Brantford's Heritage Committee.
"They haven't marketed them to anybody by saying, 'We have 40 heritage buildings here, is there anything you could do with them?'"
Jackowetz said the value of rehabilitating heritage districts can be seen just down the highway in Hamilton, where new life has been breathed into stretches of James, Locke and Ottawa streets.
Hamilton politicians also saw the wisdom in saving buildings such as the Lister Block.
But Littell said there has been no interest from the private sector to gut and restore the mouldering downtown Brantford buildings.
"I find it ironic that, at the 11th hour, all of a sudden people want to save some of the buildings.
"We waited 30 years and had nothing but decay."
The city has secured $1.38 million from the federal government to help pay for site demolition and remediation, he said.
Brantford Councillor Dan McCreary said no one disagrees something needs to be done, but to tear down unique building stock is the wrong way to go.
McCreary said the city did not do an overall analysis to study the viability of redeveloping the buildings itself.
"Quite frankly, I don't believe creating a gravelly slope from a collection of heritage buildings is urban renewal."
A notice of motion will go to council Monday that will call for the city "to cease the process and engage in public consultation," he said.
Brantford Mayor Mike Hancock said the buildings' owners never applied for heritage designations and the city must move forward to get rid of a dilapidated part of the city.
"The vast majority of our city is strongly in support of this demolition," he said.
"It would give our downtown new life."
pmorse@thespec.com
905-526-3434
wyliepoon
Senior Member
That's a terrible excuse for demolition. I see from Google Maps that there's plenty of parking lots that the facility could be built on as an infill project, which should save them the cost of demolition. And I definitely can't see that "gold rush of developers" happening.
It's definitely a shame to see a mayor in this part of the world who still thinks and acts like he's in the 1950s or 60s, or in communist China today.
There's the Brantford Casino and some big box stores across Icomm Drive from the site in question. I guess the Casino is rolling in money.
Tewder
Senior Member
The little town of Brantford has much to recommend it for a day trip already. There is the Mohawk Chapel which is the oldest church in Ontario (built 1785), the Bell homestead where Alexander Graham Bell lived and conceived of the telephone, the historic home of Pauline Johnson the poet/performer, Ruthven Park along the Grand River with Georgian mansion that is open to the public, the Sanderson Centre which is a gorgeous refurbished vaudeville theatre, The Grand River and of course the casino. Also, adjacent to the downtown commercial centre is a lovely old Victorian neighbourhood with park and war monument etc., very charming indeed!
It is so sad and almost unforgivable that the downtown has been so abandoned. There could be so much potential in the partnering of Brantford with Paris and the scenic riverside drive between them as a great little weekend get-away. I also feel its too bad that the Tanglewood-type summer home of the symphony planned for NOTL couldn't have been conceived for here with a beautiful river-side venue. NOTL is already enormously successful with tourists. Still, where was the city of Brantford when the project was proposed? Why didn't they fight for something like this???
Anyhow, if history with these sorts of things is anything to go by there is no point dreaming here. Sounds like this will get bulldozed failry quick without too much fuss... and they call this 'progress'? Such a shame. Any plans for a protest??
Heritage Canada
New Member
Federal Funding for Demolition Not Approved
Important new information :
I just spoke with David Elgie, the Director of the Southern Ontario Development Program (SODP) – tel. 416-952-6323. He confirmed that there is not yet a contribution agreement in place between Brantford and the Southern Ontario Development Program. Funding approval would be conditional on an environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, which also requires consideration of potential impact on historic resources, aboriginal resources, etc.
My interpretation of this is that Brantford may be scuttling their chances of receiving federal funding by proceeding with demolition now.
Thanks -
Natalie Bull
Executive Director / Directrice générale
Heritage Canada Foundation / Fondation Héritage Canada
5 Blackburn Avenue / 5, Avenue Blackburn
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 8A2
Tel. 613-237-1066 ext. 222 , cell 613-220-7404
nbull@heritagecanada.org
Important new information :
I just spoke with David Elgie, the Director of the Southern Ontario Development Program (SODP) – tel. 416-952-6323. He confirmed that there is not yet a contribution agreement in place between Brantford and the Southern Ontario Development Program. Funding approval would be conditional on an environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, which also requires consideration of potential impact on historic resources, aboriginal resources, etc.
My interpretation of this is that Brantford may be scuttling their chances of receiving federal funding by proceeding with demolition now.
Thanks -
Natalie Bull
Executive Director / Directrice générale
Heritage Canada Foundation / Fondation Héritage Canada
5 Blackburn Avenue / 5, Avenue Blackburn
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 8A2
Tel. 613-237-1066 ext. 222 , cell 613-220-7404
nbull@heritagecanada.org
SunriseChampion
Senior Member
Word up. +1 ^
I guess I'll include Brantford in my itinerary this spring. It's the only bigger Ontario settlement I've never been to. That includes North Bay, Timmins, Sudbury, the Soo, and Thunder Bay.
I guess I'll include Brantford in my itinerary this spring. It's the only bigger Ontario settlement I've never been to. That includes North Bay, Timmins, Sudbury, the Soo, and Thunder Bay.
unimaginative2
Senior Member
This is unbelievable. Talk about being stuck in the 50s mentality. The guy can hardly believe that there are legions of developers just waiting to develop a strip of land in downtown Brantford. If only the city would demolish the buildings for us, they all say, then the condos and shopping malls and hotels shall flow like the mighty Grand. It's a real shame because, until now, Laurier has done an admirable job of restoring vacant heritage buildings and integrating the campus into the existing downtown.
SP!RE
°°°°°°
I threw it together, but I sent this off to their mayor:
Mayor Hancock,
I am a student studying architecture at University of Toronto, and I grew up in Waterloo, Ontario. It has come to my attention through the internet (www.urbantoronto.ca) that there are plans to demolish a long stretch of Brantford's wonderful history in its downtown core, on Colborne Street.
Please-- for the sake of good urban planning and planning for the future-- for the sake of retaining history-- and to avoid a waste of money on a demolition that will be forever regretted-- please do not let this happen.
History is key to building a good city-- many cities in Ontario have made the mistake of virtually erasing their history for something "new and better". Or for no reason at all but to demolish something which is seen as a "scar" on the landscape. Great urban visionary Jane Jacobs has spoken time and time again to the fact that historical buildings are an important piece of a city and its life.
I trust that you will work to help save these beautiful historical buildings from eras gone by in Ontario's history-- and for the residents in your city.
Best,
****** *******
Mayor Hancock,
I am a student studying architecture at University of Toronto, and I grew up in Waterloo, Ontario. It has come to my attention through the internet (www.urbantoronto.ca) that there are plans to demolish a long stretch of Brantford's wonderful history in its downtown core, on Colborne Street.
Please-- for the sake of good urban planning and planning for the future-- for the sake of retaining history-- and to avoid a waste of money on a demolition that will be forever regretted-- please do not let this happen.
History is key to building a good city-- many cities in Ontario have made the mistake of virtually erasing their history for something "new and better". Or for no reason at all but to demolish something which is seen as a "scar" on the landscape. Great urban visionary Jane Jacobs has spoken time and time again to the fact that historical buildings are an important piece of a city and its life.
I trust that you will work to help save these beautiful historical buildings from eras gone by in Ontario's history-- and for the residents in your city.
Best,
****** *******
ganjavih
Senior Member
Can we do some kind of official UT letter and try to get hundreds of signatures?
doady
Senior Member
It is stupidity on par the Red Hill Creek Expressway, not too far away. 50s thinking still prevails in this area. But oh well, both Hamilton and Brantford are cities in decline anyways, so I am not worried about anything they do.
Archivist
Senior Member
Hume: Brantford will live to regret the tragedy of edifice wrecks
Toronto Star, February 15, 2010
Given its troubled relationship with the past, Brantford's faith in the future is touching.
Even after nearly destroying its downtown through a series of nasty self-inflicted wounds, the city still believes it can build itself up by tearing itself down.
In a final act of civic mutilation, Brantford will demolish a row of 40 heritage buildings on Colborne St. in its historic core. After waiting 30 years, work crews will arrive sometime this week to destroy almost four blocks of 19th-century brick structures.
Though many of the postwar urban renewal interventions inflicted on this city of 96,000 have been abject failures, hope springs eternal in the Telephone City. One would have thought that with their record, Brantfordians might have wanted to try a different approach.
And to be fair, the city has supported – at times reluctantly – the creation of Wilfrid Laurier University's Brantford satellite. The school has refurbished (or rebuilt) 18 heritage buildings. Student enrolment is 2,600 and growing.
Just blocks away from the campus, on Colborne St., hoardings and traffic signs are going up in anticipation of the demolition of an intact row of 19th-century commercial buildings. In their own sad way, they symbolize the plight of small towns across Ontario.
To suburban eyes, these rundown buildings are a blight that must be removed to make way for the new. From an urban perspective, they represent a unique opportunity – this could be the Queen St. W. of Brantford. But the truth is that most Brantfordians couldn't care less. They live outside the old city limits and have no ties, physical or emotional, with downtown.
And the notion of heritage, of valuing a building because of its age, holds little sway in these parts. Listen to what Brantford Mayor Mike Hancock told a local newspaper last week: "I think the worst mistake we could make is to have a solid plan. Let's just take it down and look at what we have got. Then we can start deciding together what should go there."
Wreck now, think later. Now that's faith.
Cities evolve, of course. Photographs taken in Brantford in the late 19th and early 20th centuries show a bustling community where people got around on bicycles and streetcars. In every sense of the word, it was a city.
Now, it is something less. That's no accident; the car made it possible for people to live far from work and home. It also set the stage for the whole suburban dream, from highways to shopping malls.
As that phase of our evolution now draws to a close, it will be interesting to see what's next for Brantford. Though it's not mainstream yet, the back-to-the-core movement is well underway. The results are transformative. And in fact, Brantford is an attractive, compact city well poised for its next incarnation.
On the other hand, this is also a city that has made every postwar planning mistake in the book and then some. The gospel of growth at any cost turned out to be another lie, and a lot more expensive and destructive than anyone expected.
In its next life, roles will be reversed yet again. As people flee suburban decay, pressure on downtown Brantford will grow intense. The conditions that made Brantford successful in the first place will be rediscovered, as will the city's past. Residents will start to look at those bikes and streetcars with new appreciation.
Until then, it seems Brantford will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis, unsure of where it is headed, unsure of whether the city is half full or half empty.
-----------------------
Honestly, I find it almost impossible to believe that the mayor could say "Let's just take it down and look at what we have got. Then we can start deciding together what should go there." It's like being in 1955 or something. Did the man just emerge from a time capsule? Here's your answer: you will have nothing on this site except rubble after it is ripped down. I suppose if the town doesn't care, they don't care, and they deserve what they get, but it's quite sad nonetheless.
Toronto Star, February 15, 2010
Given its troubled relationship with the past, Brantford's faith in the future is touching.
Even after nearly destroying its downtown through a series of nasty self-inflicted wounds, the city still believes it can build itself up by tearing itself down.
In a final act of civic mutilation, Brantford will demolish a row of 40 heritage buildings on Colborne St. in its historic core. After waiting 30 years, work crews will arrive sometime this week to destroy almost four blocks of 19th-century brick structures.
Though many of the postwar urban renewal interventions inflicted on this city of 96,000 have been abject failures, hope springs eternal in the Telephone City. One would have thought that with their record, Brantfordians might have wanted to try a different approach.
And to be fair, the city has supported – at times reluctantly – the creation of Wilfrid Laurier University's Brantford satellite. The school has refurbished (or rebuilt) 18 heritage buildings. Student enrolment is 2,600 and growing.
Just blocks away from the campus, on Colborne St., hoardings and traffic signs are going up in anticipation of the demolition of an intact row of 19th-century commercial buildings. In their own sad way, they symbolize the plight of small towns across Ontario.
To suburban eyes, these rundown buildings are a blight that must be removed to make way for the new. From an urban perspective, they represent a unique opportunity – this could be the Queen St. W. of Brantford. But the truth is that most Brantfordians couldn't care less. They live outside the old city limits and have no ties, physical or emotional, with downtown.
And the notion of heritage, of valuing a building because of its age, holds little sway in these parts. Listen to what Brantford Mayor Mike Hancock told a local newspaper last week: "I think the worst mistake we could make is to have a solid plan. Let's just take it down and look at what we have got. Then we can start deciding together what should go there."
Wreck now, think later. Now that's faith.
Cities evolve, of course. Photographs taken in Brantford in the late 19th and early 20th centuries show a bustling community where people got around on bicycles and streetcars. In every sense of the word, it was a city.
Now, it is something less. That's no accident; the car made it possible for people to live far from work and home. It also set the stage for the whole suburban dream, from highways to shopping malls.
As that phase of our evolution now draws to a close, it will be interesting to see what's next for Brantford. Though it's not mainstream yet, the back-to-the-core movement is well underway. The results are transformative. And in fact, Brantford is an attractive, compact city well poised for its next incarnation.
On the other hand, this is also a city that has made every postwar planning mistake in the book and then some. The gospel of growth at any cost turned out to be another lie, and a lot more expensive and destructive than anyone expected.
In its next life, roles will be reversed yet again. As people flee suburban decay, pressure on downtown Brantford will grow intense. The conditions that made Brantford successful in the first place will be rediscovered, as will the city's past. Residents will start to look at those bikes and streetcars with new appreciation.
Until then, it seems Brantford will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis, unsure of where it is headed, unsure of whether the city is half full or half empty.
-----------------------
Honestly, I find it almost impossible to believe that the mayor could say "Let's just take it down and look at what we have got. Then we can start deciding together what should go there." It's like being in 1955 or something. Did the man just emerge from a time capsule? Here's your answer: you will have nothing on this site except rubble after it is ripped down. I suppose if the town doesn't care, they don't care, and they deserve what they get, but it's quite sad nonetheless.
egotrippin
Senior Member
How does an idiot like that become mayor? Or is he just an accurate reflection of the general population of Brantford?