^ All the "good" developments you show are historic retrofits. The exact thing that won't happen if we tear down those character buildings.
Actually, while mostly true, this isn't entirely. Some examples:
1 -- Templar Flats was built from scratch. It was a gap between two buildings on land formerly owned by LIUNA. It
looks heritage, but it's a newbuild from scratch.
2 -- Also, not as well done (and needs more distinctive storefronts) but also built from ground up, is the still in-character is 123 James St N (FHT building -- the one with the big H logo).
3 -- Facade preservation is also a compromise too. There's also that
James St N facade being stored (the gap north of Lister Block building) -- it's going to be put back brick-by-brick as the facade in front of the new student apartments being built north of Lister Block and behind the other facades too, in that L-shaped lot ending in the gap north of Lister Block.
So breakthroughs are finally happening after years of demolitions.
There are travesties like the lingering battle on the facades at Gore Park, that is still an ongoing saga. This is a warning signal that we have to work real damn hard in preservation efforts...
My sense is that construction quality is gradually improving locally and they are increasingly now respecting the area effect (e.g. adjacent buildings need to now stay more "in tune" with their surroundings), we need to lobby for rule changes even as they consider things like microbreweries along the LRT corridor.
You will observe that they appear to have managed to preserve the much larger quantity of storefronts on the north edge of King between Wentworth and Ashley.
Observe the north edge:
The corner buildings may need to be modified or demolished, but the ones in between are full of heritage-quality facades (imagine how beautiful it can be with a Lister Block style renovation). (To many people, it looks somewhat rundown now, but so was Lister Block too -- and see how it looks now)
Assuming this success of preserving the vast majority of the north edge (a possible future advocacy goal in coming years, or a friendly team, etc), this will kind of encourage the south-side of the street to stay in tune with the existing heritage of the area. Hamilton is slowly starting to set better precedents in the 'area preservation effect' -- seeing James St N and King William.
Not giving excuses, and not justifying the demolitions, but I'm just pointing out recently Hamilton has set new precedents contrary to what you're saying. Since the demos will be adjacent to facades that likely can be preseserved, there is the potential to generate a heritage preservation area effect in many sections all the way between downtown and Gage Park. I do see densification like stepped-back condos, while still respecting the area much like the new construction on James St N and King William is -- moreso than the construction pictures (mostly late 90s and early 2000s stuff) you've posted, which are all older pieces of work than what I've posted.
Many in Hamilton once wanted to tear down Lister Block and such, and there will be loud fuss about heritage buildings when the specific expropriations finally get publicly announced. Some facades can be saved (sometimes stored brick by brick -- like one of the facades on James St N that is currently being stored for a condo project) and then moved backwards or rebuilt a few feet back. Those facades pictured are far less complex than the ones on James St N, for example.
Again, what I am saying are no excuses, but possible targets of advocacy (including petitioning bylaws for area heritage preservation, requiring new buildings to blend into area heritage).
From what I hear,
Jason Thorne is assigned to some of the future LRT corridor redevelopment & long-term planning, and I think he's a great individual to help work our way through many compromises. But -- yes -- many Hamltonians have a lot of hard work to lobby really, really hard for the best outcome, prevent developers from demolishing facades, while building sensible corridor densification.
And my overall post definitely does not discourage the need to work on this. Many locals will have to start advocacy efforts, with lots of city councillor support, some of them with loud community aplomb of current or past campaigns such as #YesWeCannon #casiNO #yesLRT etc. (successful Cannon cycle track)
At the same time (addressing concerns about gentrification and socially disruptive displacement of residents) there's simultaneously also needing a place for affordable housing elements like the new Indwell apartments at Kenilworth-Main, which while very far from heritage look, can work and blend-in very well in the various openings like parking-lot gaps and the non-heritage facades. There's so many issues to advocate over... I predict a huge number of advocacies will suddenly boom up once action (construction, demolitions, roadwork, etc) begins in LRT preps.
The sooner the extremist NoLRT sideshow (especially illegal actions, flag desecration, etc) would go into the rear view mirror, the more time we can focus on initiatives like helping businesses survive construction and heritage/preservation issues...
When LRT happens even if you are against it, wouldn't you want tweaks to the city's benefit, support campaigns to help businesses survive, etc? I can discuss LRT cordially with respectful residents against LRT. We can't let positive advocacy elements get bogged down.
