Gore Park Fountain – Gore Park, Hamilton
Monthly Archives: August 2013
Blast from the Past: January
Great Falls (also known as Grindstone Falls) is located on the Grindstone Creek just off Mill Street, in Waterdown.
Until 1912, Grindstone Creek was used as a source of power for a sawmill at the base of Great Falls. The waterfall flows year round and a viewing platform has since been built, as well as a parking lot for visitors.
According to the City of Waterfalls website, Great Falls is one of the several Hamilton area waterfalls to be featured regularly in postcards.
Great Falls is also accessible via the Bruce Trail.
Filed under Blast From The Past, Heritage, History
Blast from the Past: a history of Hamilton through vintage post cards
You never know what you’ll find at the Freelton Antique Mall. For example, this unique 1975 Hamilton Spectator post card calendar.
Throughout the following weeks, Rebuild Hamilton will post a different month (in succession) of this vintage calendar. Each post will contain some information about the post card picture for that month.
Enjoy!
PHOTO OF THE DAY – August 13th
Workers Arts & Heritage Centre – 51 Stuart St, Hamilton
August 13, 2013 · 7:08 pm
PHOTO OF THE DAY – August 12th
Hamilton GO Centre (TH&B) – 36 Hunter St E, Hamilton
August 12, 2013 · 3:00 pm
The Brant Street Pier finally opens
After a long wait, The Brant Street Pier finally opened in June during this year’s Sound of Music Festival on Fathers Day Weekend.
The Pier is the final phase of the Waterfront at Downtown Burlington project. Other phases of the project include the parking garage at 414 Locust Street, Discovery Landing, the Rotary Centennial Pond, and The Dofasco Waterjet Plaza.
Located at the Eastern End of Spencer Smith Park, the Brant Street Pier extends 137 metres over Lake Ontario. The S-shaped pier is connected to the park’s existing promenade by a coloured concrete walkway.
Five metres above the water, the pier’s platform is built on 14 caissons drilled into a bedrock foundation.
Located along the sides of the deck are LED lamps extending over the walkway and benches without backs, offering different views of the lake.
Further out (85 meters), the deck widens for a circular node. In the centre of the node is a raised platform that is nine metres in diameter and can be accessed via circular staircase.
Atop the platform is a 12-metre beacon with an oblong nautical-style structure complemented by rings clad with a perforated metal sheet.
The beacon is made of a tubular structural steel framing. The stiffness of structural steel framing will ensure the structure can withstand the high winds of Lake Ontario.
The platform not only supports the beacon, but also offers a different vantage point from the pier.
According to the City of Burlington, the construction of the pier was also attentive to the environment. The height of the pier allows the free flow of the water under the platform. Along the eastern edge of the promenade, the beach has been preserved and the project includes providing fish habitat compensation and enhancements for Sheldon Creek.
The total cost of the pier construction is an estimated $14.4 million.
Filed under Architecture, Development, Economy, Entertainment
PHOTO OF THE DAY – August 2nd
A different side of City Hall – Jackson St W, Hamilton
August 2, 2013 · 1:39 pm
An alternative design and development plan for Gore Park buildings
Local developer and designer Mahesh Butani has prepared a compromise development proposal for the Blanchard Block at Gore Park that would not only save the historic Gore Park buildings, but also integrate new development.
Butani has expressed fear that tearing down the historic Gore Park buildings would be damaging to the city’s core. Although there is a possibility the Gore Park streetwall will be designated as heritage buildings, this new plan would achieve the integration of the existing buildings in a sensitive manner with large-scale development.
The proposal suggests a phased plan with three stages. The first stage is to develop an 80-room boutique hotel superimposed on top of the Gore Park row of heritage buildings in a receding form. The receding levels open up the sightline for 50% of the units in phases two and three, while also providing Gore Park with low shadow cover from the buildings.
The hotel would include a terrace restaurant, café and bar overlooking the park. There will be over 40 “Bed and Breakfast” rooms inside the pre-existing buildings and six retail storefronts.
Stage two incorporates an 18-floor mixed-use condominium with 108 units on the adjacent lot facing James Street South, which is currently vacant.
The final stage would be a 40-floor high-rise condominium with more than 400 units. The condo would be situated on another vacant lot facing Main Street. All three phases would be integrated with the boutique hotel and terrace café overlooking Gore Park.
According to Butani, building the development in phases would give a realistic flow to the financing and asset collateralization, giving lenders a greater assurance against the risk of default. It would also help control supply and demand, ensuring that more sales go to actual users, adding density to the core.
The total development value of this proposal totals 150-million dollars.
Note: these renderings are not finished. They will be released in a few weeks with materials, textures etc. However, due to the immediate possibility of demolition, Butani decided to release various views of the unfinished rendering.
Filed under Architecture, Development, Heritage
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