Says something about local architectural heritage muscle that the Spec's pro-Century voice in that article is the Hamilton Fringe Festival president. Would be curious to see how many appeals for bylaw enforcement were made regarding this property over the last 20 years from the ACO and orgs like it.
Our disappearing heritage
Critics say city must work harder to save old buildings
January 11, 2010
Dana Brown
The Century Theatre is slated for demolition as early as today.
The Mary Street structure, built in 1913 as a vaudeville house, is the latest on a growing list of historic buildings in Hamilton that have either collapsed, fallen to a wrecking ball or are languishing in neglect.
What can be done? The issue is pitting heritage lovers against developers, city bureaucrats and councillors.
The historic Century Theatre has been on a Hamilton heritage committee watch list for two years because of concerns around inaction on the project.
And downtown councillor Bob Bratina wants the city to conduct a blitz on all suspect buildings in the core to bring a clear picture back to council about their current condition.
As well, he'll be asking city staff why buildings such as the Century are not being inspected.
The Century could come down as early as today after the city deemed the building unsafe last Thursday.
The front section of the roof on the Mary Street structure and inside floors have collapsed.
Officials are waiting for an engineer's report the city ordered the building's owner, Zoran Cocov, to have conducted. That report is expected today.
Art French, chairperson of the Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee, said the Century was not put on the watchlist due to structural concerns, but because of concerns that nothing was being done on the project.
But Matt Jelly, a local artist who started a Facebook group on the Century after hearing it would come down, says the ball was dropped when it came to saving the theatre.
"I think more so the issue for me is what led to a situation where the building can't be restored," he said.
"And it's a fundamental breakdown of our bylaw enforcement in Hamilton."
By last night, more than 400 people had joined the Facebook group, with many sharing memories of the site.
The faltering structure is the latest in a series of area buildings with serious structural problems.
In 2008, the Balfour building at King William and James streets was brought down after its facade began to buckle.
And in 2004, part of the Tivoli Theatre caved in, forcing the demolition of the third floor.
At the Century -- formerly known as the Lyric -- the original plan was to save the facade, which is covered under a heritage designation.
Dave Kuruc, owner of James Street North business Mixed Media, said he and others believe "enough's enough."
"I think it's kind of ridiculous -- it seems to be this is a recurring thing and it really has to stop if we want downtown to become a different kind of place," he said.
Kuruc, who at one time organized a protest demanding the city enforce its property standards bylaw, characterized nearly all of city council as being missing in action on the issue.
Kurac said there needs to be a vision for downtown, a focus on fixing up several key buildings and a push for buy-in from smaller investors, rather than looking at mega-projects for the core.
"People waiting and speculating on property is not the right way to promote your city and that's what's happening in the downtown core," Kuruc said.
"Everyone's waiting for someone to do something else before they do anything."
In the wake of the Balfour collapse, the city implemented a new inspection system that included quarterly inspections of about 75 buildings known to be vacant.
Inspections got under way last June, and by late August more than a dozen orders were issued against neglected buildings.
"I thought we had addressed this with the proactive bylaw," Bratina said. The Century "tells me we haven't." He said he doesn't get a sense from many members of council the crumbling buildings are "a priority issue."
Bratina blames neglect by both the city and those who own the Century for what has happened and asked the city's legal department if charges could be laid.
He said he was told that since no orders were issued against the property, there is no failure to comply.
Bratina said the matter is one of public safety.
"I believe some building owners feel that we're not tough on this."
But committee chairperson French says it's not all bad news.
He noted several older buildings in the city, such as Victoria Hall, have been preserved, but people often only hear about those that are falling apart.
dbrown@thespec.com
905-526-4629
The Good
FOSTER BUILDING
The King Street national heritage building made up of Victoria Hall and the MacKay building was vacant for 30 years before a Toronto developer cleaned it up. The city granted $307,000 from the downtown loan program to convert the former retail building facing Gore Park into residential and commercial units.
LONDON TAPHOUSE
The 159-year-old stone building at the corner of Main and John got a close-to $4 million facelift to become a restaurant/bar. The building, by renowned architect William Thomas, is considered a landmark building in the downtown. It has been a grocery, winery, veterans hall and several restaurants before sitting empty for a number of years.
LISTER
The long-derelict landmark on James Street has been the most-talked about building in Hamilton. After a long series of disappointments, the Lister is being redeveloped in a $25-million project to turn it into retail and office space.
The bad
BALFOUR
The Lister neighbour crumbled to the ground in April 2008. The collapse made Heritage Canada Foundation's worst loss list for the year.
ROYAL CONNAUGHT
The venerable downtown hotel continues to sit empty after a recent bid to convert it into mixed income housing failed to get government funding. Hopes have risen and fallen over the King Street landmark, which many say holds the key to turning around the fortunes of Hamilton's downtown.
The hopeful
TIVOLI
Fundraising is under way to bring the former theatre back to life for ballet. The lobby and facade of the James Street North theatre collapsed in 2004 but the theatre portion remains. The Toonies for Tivoli campaign is part of a $15 million capital campaign of the Canadian Ballet Youth Ensemble to restore the building built as a carriage factory in the 1870s.
AUCHMAR
The historic Mountain estate has fallen into disrepair. The city, which owns the property, has applied for $4.8 million to fix it up. The plan is for Auchmar to be restored as a curatorial centre that will house more than a million artifacts and host city events.