Hamilton FirstOntario Centre Renovations | ?m | 4s | OVG | BBB

This article is saying that the total cost of the renovations is going to be around $280M with a targeted reopening for 2025. That is a crazy amount of money considering what the updated renderings are showing. However, cost inflation in the construction industry over the past few years has been completely out of control, so it doesn’t surprise me to see less for more.
 
I am not overly optimistic about this project coming to fruition. I can see this group handing back the keys saying they couldn't come to a new agreement with the city.
 
Agreed, my personal opinion is that the city blocks running north of Hamilton City Hall from Main Street to York Boulevard are essentially dead urban tissue for walkability and vibrance, and constitute the greater urban renewal failure in downtown Hamilton.

If Civic Suqare/Hamilton Place had retained the original early-60s mid-mod civic plaza design and if the whole Jackson Square block had never been redeveloped, the whole area would be far better. Unfortunately I guess the project dragged on too long, and by the time the shovels were in the ground, the late-60s-70s-era introverted superblock/pedetrian segregation fad had taken hold.

Now all there is is a massive knot of buildings/parking/walkways with no cohesion or coordination, but there are still some glimpses of the original layout in the placement of the buildings.


029577arf010n.png
029577arf011n.jpg

ahh I was wondering when someone would post this - the original plan for city hall would have kept it nice and open..

Sometimes I wish this whole block would be demolished - the ellen faircloud building is basically where walkability goes to die, making king and james essentially the end of walkability - doesn't matter how many more things they build past this point - the majority of hamiltonians will never walk to them - there are no street facing shops on the south end to peruse and it just feels bleak cold and unfriendly to walk across until you get past AGH and can finally feel like you can breathe.. the whole area is so confusing I've never really gone into any of it except for get my license and health card renewed..
 
Last edited:
Deal officially signed between OVG and the City of Hamilton for the $280M in renovations. Renovations will commence spring 2024 and wrap up fall 2025. Renovations will start with the undeveloped spaces while the Toronto Rock plays their next season. After which, the venue will close for the remaining renovations until it reopens in 2025.

Music events will continue to be the main focus of the newly renovated arena. OVG is also looking to target a “junior or AHL hockey team”, and will have a new arena naming deal in place upon completion of the renovations. Worth noting that AHL teams need NHL affiliates, and Buffalo already owns its AHL team, so any AHL team here likely wouldn’t be affiliated with anything nearby.
 
Last edited:

Back
Top