Lister Block | ? | 6 fl | Renovation - Page 26

the dude · #**501** Posted **Mar 26, 2008, 3:56 AM**

in regards to 'old' york st, i've read accounts from the city that stated the strip was too congested, frenzied. in other words, too vibrant and alive. they felt it wasn't an appropriate entrance to the city. now look at it...as already mentioned, an urban highway, sterile and ugly. now, if they'd had an actual plan to back up the razing of an entire neighbourhood then perhaps we'd have something to show for it. they just crossed their fingers and hoped that everything would work out. big surprise...35 years later, it hasn't.

matt602 · #**502** Posted **Mar 26, 2008, 9:10 AM**

That last picture is a beauty.

SteelTown · #**503** Posted **Mar 26, 2008, 12:15 PM**

Big boost for Lister Block
City strikes new pact with Ontario to help pay for renewal

John Burman
The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 26, 2008)

City council has approved a new deal with the province to help pay for the renewal of the downtown Lister Block.

The deal, hammered out with provincial officials by Mayor Fred Eisenberger's office and LIUNA, extends the deadline for the province's $7-million funding commitment past Monday. It also allows the city until June 30 to decide whether to buy or lease the Lister Block but does not lock the city into either.

The new agreement buys more time for negotiations, Joe Rinaldo, general manager of finance, told council meeting as committee of the whole yesterday.

According to the agreement, the city agrees not to sell the Lister Block or cease to occupy most of it for 20 years. Eisenberger told the committee the province simply wants to make sure public money is put to public use.

The agreement also gives the building's owner, LIUNA, and its partner, Hi-Rise, more time to firm up plans to build seniors' rental accommodation and condos in two towers behind the building.

LIUNA vice-president Joe Mancinelli told councillors his union and Hi-Rise boss Warren Green are confident the two towers will proceed and promised a guarantee to that effect when pressed by Councillor Lloyd Ferguson.

One reason Mancinelli is so confident is because Patrick Byrne, president and CEO of Kingsway Arms Retirement Residences, the company that will operate the retirement rental, condo units and amenities, can't say enough about the potential the site offers for his company.

The site has that special something Kingsway's target senior market finds most desirable -- a nearby mall.

"A mall is more important to our customers than a hospital," said Byrne, adding he'd even like to put the dining room for the complex in the front corner of the renovated Lister because "seniors do not want to be shut away in the back. They want to be front and centre where things are happening."

Byrne said the project will create a ripple effect of other businesses and services catering to seniors moving to the area and he predicted a business renaissance around the Lister three to five years after the project opens.

raisethehammer · #**504** Posted **Mar 26, 2008, 1:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BCTed

x

you can delete your comments all you want. I already quoted you before they were gone.
IMO you should just stick with the goldfinger moniker. He sounds slighly more intelligent than this BCTed one.
Maybe now if you just go with one handle on the website, you can free up more of your time to actually contribute some worthwhile ideas and thoughts to the discussion.

realcity · #**505** Posted **Mar 26, 2008, 1:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by flar

I'm still firmly in the restoration camp too. Think about how much of the downtown streetscape has been lost. Where Jackson Square/Copps/City Centre/complex is, where City Hall is, everything that was along York Blvd, everything that was where the parking lots on King William and Rebecca are. We can't afford to lose any more.

I'm very worried about Lister. None of the options are good. I almost guarantee that if it is renovated, it will not add to the streetlife. It won't be a publicly accessible building, they will claim it is/will be, but it will add no more life to the street then the new Fed Bldg does to Bay Street. There will be very little retail activity if any, Tim Hortons might move from the Right House and a newsstand.

An office bldg sucks. Why is it that Toronto's building boom has been 99% condos? hmmm perhaps because their is enough office space. Seniors Apts? give me a break. That's all we need in the middle of the core. Nice image that projects. Old buildings make perfect residential units. Thick walls and floors, actual rooms (not open space, which really isn't that functional or cozy), the location, King William is practically a pedestrian street.

If it needs more economy of scale then build a tower in the void of the building, but leave the interior mall, use the second floor for a grocery store and higher end units in the old building. Long-term stay or modern smaller units in a new tower.

I almost wished the province didn't give the money too. I want this deal to die. Even if it is renovated, an office conversion all but detroys the Lister as we knew it anyway. IT WILL BE GUTTED IN THE INSIDE INTO CUBICLES. what's historic about that?

realcity · #**506** Posted **Mar 26, 2008, 1:52 PM**

omg.... so the dining room with the perpetual ketchup bottles will be the focal point of this building. Are they serious? This is what Liuna brings to the table.

what an embarrassment this will be to the city. Wow what a lively city Hamilton is.... I can't wait to retire so I can move downtown with my scooter.

RePinion · #**507** Posted **Mar 26, 2008, 1:55 PM**

No surprise.

realcity · #**508** Posted **Mar 26, 2008, 2:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by flar

I've seen a bunch in various Hamilton books at the library.

Here's what York Blvd used to look like before it was "renewed"

That is very sad. The city does all the land appropriation then does nothing with it.

I was told the reason nothing developed is because the footprints left behind were too small. I was intended to be a corridor of high rises -- Le Corbusier style -- but they didn't clear enough to make it happen. Look today at the empty lots, after the street was widened they realized the mistake, not much bigger than a house lot exists today. The fill that happened was a dinky Tim Hortons, and sliver, plaza-style buidlings. What a shame.

Goldfinger · #**509** Posted **Mar 26, 2008, 2:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by realcity

omg.... so the dining room with the perpetual ketchup bottles will be the focal point of this building. Are they serious? This is what Liuna brings to the table.

what an embarrassment this will be to the city. Wow what a lively city Hamilton is.... I can't wait to retire so I can move downtown with my scooter.

LIUNA didn't bring this to the table, city council has demanded that they include seniors housing as a condition to a deal.

HAMRetrofit · #**510** Posted **Mar 26, 2008, 2:39 PM**

I am seeing a lot of discouraging discrimination of seniors in this thread. Their presence will actually be a boost to the core. If King William street is set to become a major destination street it will still do so regardless of this retirement home. The purpose of a healthy downtown is to mix all demographic groups and this actually includes seniors. The disposable income of these citizens will help attract major retailer again to the Eatons Center, Market, and storefronts surrounding Gore Park. These areas will need to become more pedestrian friendly to accommodate their lifestyles.

Discriminating against certain groups is only going to retard the downtown's recovery.

beanmedic · #**511** Posted **Mar 26, 2008, 2:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

you can delete your comments all you want. I already quoted you before they were gone.
IMO you should just stick with the goldfinger moniker. He sounds slighly more intelligent than this BCTed one.
Maybe now if you just go with one handle on the website, you can free up more of your time to actually contribute some worthwhile ideas and thoughts to the discussion.

That's ridiculous. Classic troll.

Why don't you try never posting here again?