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From the 'good idea at the time' files...
Jun. 12th, 2010 11:36 amThe nearby city of Brantford has had a rough time of it in the past thirty years. The growth of suburbia, the loss of industries to outsourcing (thank you NAFTA), and a number of recessions have really done a number on the downtown. If any of you saw Silent Hill, that's Brantford. Literally--they filmed it there. There have been success stories, such as the Wilfrid Laurier University satellite campus and the Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts, but these have been few and far between.
One street was lined with a collection of 41 stone and brick buildings, some of them dating back to pre-Confederation times. However, they weren't in very good shape, some of them standing empty for years. A developer with vision could have taken all of those buildings, fixed them up like new, and converted this section of downtown to something the people of Brantford could be proud of. Of course that takes too much time and money, so the city voted to have them all demolished--and did so this past week.
A guide to what was lost.
Heritage activists are mourning the loss, seeing it for what it is--a city killing itself slowly. Most people are saying that it's about time, that the buildings were unsightly and needed to go. However, those in the 'about time' camp may come to regret this move.
First of all, there is no plan for what will replace the buildings. There have been proposals and discussions, but there is no piece of paper saying "This project will go here." Unless somebody comes up with something soon, Brantford is going to be looking at a huge vacant lot for the next few years/decades.
Second, the buildings were constructed on a hill, and had back walls that extended lower than street level as a result. This style of construction may have served as a retaining wall for this part of Brantford. Even before they were gone, photographs of the block showed earth subsiding where an old tree had been removed. If the city of Brantford just removed their retaining wall, they may find that building anything in its place will become progressively expensive as the land becomes infirm and starts to slip during excavation.
Ontario has lost a lot of old buildings from neglect and bureaucratic ignorance in the past sixty years. The site of the first provincial legislature in Toronto is now a Porsche dealership. Cambridge lost the Gore Tower and Capitol Theatre in Galt, the wooden railway station in Hespeler, and the post office and Dorchester Hotel in Preston. Kitchener demolished its city hall to put in a dead mall. Hamilton lost everything shaded in red (except for one building that was declared dead prematurely). You'd think we'd get it by now, but apparently we don't. The rampage continues.
One street was lined with a collection of 41 stone and brick buildings, some of them dating back to pre-Confederation times. However, they weren't in very good shape, some of them standing empty for years. A developer with vision could have taken all of those buildings, fixed them up like new, and converted this section of downtown to something the people of Brantford could be proud of. Of course that takes too much time and money, so the city voted to have them all demolished--and did so this past week.
A guide to what was lost.
Heritage activists are mourning the loss, seeing it for what it is--a city killing itself slowly. Most people are saying that it's about time, that the buildings were unsightly and needed to go. However, those in the 'about time' camp may come to regret this move.
First of all, there is no plan for what will replace the buildings. There have been proposals and discussions, but there is no piece of paper saying "This project will go here." Unless somebody comes up with something soon, Brantford is going to be looking at a huge vacant lot for the next few years/decades.
Second, the buildings were constructed on a hill, and had back walls that extended lower than street level as a result. This style of construction may have served as a retaining wall for this part of Brantford. Even before they were gone, photographs of the block showed earth subsiding where an old tree had been removed. If the city of Brantford just removed their retaining wall, they may find that building anything in its place will become progressively expensive as the land becomes infirm and starts to slip during excavation.
Ontario has lost a lot of old buildings from neglect and bureaucratic ignorance in the past sixty years. The site of the first provincial legislature in Toronto is now a Porsche dealership. Cambridge lost the Gore Tower and Capitol Theatre in Galt, the wooden railway station in Hespeler, and the post office and Dorchester Hotel in Preston. Kitchener demolished its city hall to put in a dead mall. Hamilton lost everything shaded in red (except for one building that was declared dead prematurely). You'd think we'd get it by now, but apparently we don't. The rampage continues.
